Unsolved Mysteries can be hit and miss, and I was not expecting Season 4 to change. It’s easy to be an armchair detective today, especially with smartphones and access to the internet, but that does not mean all evidence we gather is substantial or leans toward a mystery/conspiracy.
Considering this, I’ve decided to grade every episode of Unsolved Mysteries Season 4 based on the strength of the mystery. If the episode provides plenty to make it a good mystery, then the better the grade. Warning: if you haven’t watched Season 4 yet, then there are spoilers ahead.
Episode 1 – “Who Was Jack the Ripper?”
‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Season 4, Episode 1 – “Who Was Jack the Ripper?” (Credit – Netflix)
I understand this is called Unsolved Mysteries, but the “Jack the Ripper” case is a bit of a stretch. The investigation into the murders in Victorian times in 1888 was more prone to late-night stories than armchair detectives. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt the identity of Jack the Ripper will ever be solved. The episode admits that many diversions and distractions meant the police could never pinpoint a key suspect.
Episode 1 goes through the myth, the legend, and the investigation into the serial killer and how he conducted each murder. Historians are introduced, and suspects are all outlined. But I’m unsure if this is the best use of the series’ time. Let’s think about it: will Unsolved Mysteries provide the best documentary material for Jack the Ripper? The answer is unequivocally no, so why even do it in the first place? You’ll find better material elsewhere on the subject rather than this 45-minute bite-sized history piece.
I could only give it the worst grade because there’s no way to theorize over this episode.
Grade: F
Episode 2 – “Body in the Basement”
Amanda Antoni in ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Season 4 (Credit – Netflix)
The second episode of Unsolved Mysteries Season 4 has similar remnants to The Staircase, though I’m more on the side of the husband in this one.
On October 26th, 2015, in Calgary, Canada, Amanda Antoni’s husband Lee finds her body in their home basement, and there’s blood everywhere. The episode plays his panicked phone call recording to the police operator, and he’s understandably distressed to find his wife dead.
It’s a suspicious death. Amanda’s body was full rigor mortis, and the home had no signs of robbery or break-in. Police detected some struggle, and initially, they suspected sexual assault as well as murder due to the victim being partially clothed.
The episode does well in breaking down Amanda’s personality to build a picture — she was a kindhearted woman with brothers who adored her. Of course, the documentary series breaks down her relationship with her husband, Lee, who is understandably the first suspect in a case like this. They had financial frustrations, and the brothers suspected Amanda was not happy sometimes, but there was nothing to suggest that Lee would have murdered his wife. This is typical, circumstantial, and relationship-type stuff.
The episode parses the interrogation, including Lee’s police interviews. He had a strong alibi, which was also verified and indisputable, which cleared him of any wrongdoing. He was not in the home or anywhere near it at the time of the murder.
But what makes this a strong mystery is that the DNA, including the blood, in the basement and surrounding areas are all attributed to Amanda. There was also no semen found, dismissing the sexual assault claim—all forensic evidence attributed to Amanda, and only Amanda.
The second to last theory was that Lee’s sister arranged for Amanda to be killed after they called child services on her due to worries over the niece. But again, there’s nothing substantial here, and it is merely an unfortunate family conflict.
The remaining theory was that her death may have been a freak accident, as there was no evidence that anyone had been in the home. What’s even more disturbing is that their dog did not visit her downstairs or show any signs of distress despite its owner being bloody and dead downstairs.
The case is inactive, and the cause of death is still undetermined almost a decade later. Considering that so many questions have been answered and unanswered, this is an incredible mystery, and I can only feel sorry for Amanda’s husband and family. If this were my family member, it would torture me daily.
Grade: A
Episode 3 – “The Severed Head”
The sculpture of the severed head (Credit – Netflix)
Episode 3 is a mystery surrounding an unidentified, embalmed, severed head, and I’m not even joking. On December 12th, 2014, in Economy Borough, Western Pennsylvania, a young teenage boy finds a severed head in the woods and calls the police. There’s no certainty if a crime had been committed. Even today, no one knows who this head belongs to; all they know is that it belongs to an unnamed female aged between 60 and 80.
This is an OK mystery until the end of the episode: the head has no eyes but small red balls in the sockets — the kind of ones you can get in bubble ball machines made in China. Funeral homes were investigated, DNA samples were examined, and multiple identifications were attempted and failed. One such mystery led the investigators to a missing head from a family crypt from 1988 that a coroner flagged, but even that provided no conclusion. There was no strong lead, and it even throws the investigators that the head has modern dentistry.
The true crime series does an excellent job of describing body brokers who sell body parts at private conferences. The culprits are usually funeral directors who delve into organ transplantation, and a lot of the illegalities that occur in this market are unchecked. Honestly, this was most likely the answer to the mystery.
But the story’s mystery turns strange when a man named Jay Grabner appears. His house was directly across the street from where the severed head was found, and he was far too eager to help the police with their investigation. It turns out he used to be friends with the teenage boy who found the head, and he once accused the same boy of murdering his horse, Ginger.
Of course, the angle here is that Jay wanted revenge on the teenage boy and, with his knowledge of the body trade industry, planted the severed head in the woods, knowing his ex-friend was going to come across it. He wanted the boy to be accused of a crime.
Jay Grabner did a polygraph test about the severed head, and the results came back with a 99.99% chance that he was not telling the truth. In the simplest terms, he likely knew where the severed head was from. To make matters worse, he had his dead dog frozen in a freezer. I’m not saying the police were lazy here, but the maths add up.
However, the police investigation turned dry, and in September 2020, Jay Grabner committed suicide. The reasons why are unknown.
Is this a mystery anymore? I’m unsure. It’s either the result of body trading, which is, of course, highly illegal, or Jay Grabner partook in the trading of body parts himself and tried to set up an old friend of his. Either way, the fact that the head could not be identified, despite sculptures, leans more towards that this woman could have died over a century ago. Her head was embalmed, meaning it was maintained.
It just feels like Jay Grabner was let off more than he should have.
Grade: C
Episode 4 – “Murder, Centre Stage”
‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Season 4 (Credit – Netflix)
Episode 4 is another mystery where I feel it’s a massive oversight from the police rather than a “mystery.” While I understand there needs to be specific charges and prosecution for the mystery to go away, we have to consider that often the police missed something at the time. And it would make sense for this crime, considering the year it happened.
In Trenton State College on September 4th, 1977, Sigrid Stevenson was murdered on stage in a locked campus theatre. The murder in New Jersey is still talked about today as new theories continue to emerge about the killer.
The episode goes into the circumstances of Sigrid Stevenson’s death. She was not meant to be on campus. It was Labor Day night when it happened. She is described as a quirky woman with a loving family – a piano prodigy.
In 2003, the police looked into the case again. The scene was bloody, her underwear was off, and she was gagged. It was a gruesome murder, and it’s heavily suspected that she was sexually assaulted.
Strangely, there were no footprints in the crime photos, and no fingerprints were found. Considering how the murder was done, this is either lousy police forensics or an extremely clever murder.
There is some circumstantial evidence at play here; apparently, Sigrid was happy during a play but depressed later on as she told her acquaintances how she argued with another man, a cast member.
But the most significant evidence is that marks on her wrists leaned towards being handcuffed, which brings suspicions of Campus police being involved. Two officers were on duty at the time, but both passed the polygraph test. However, the true crime series states that polygraph tests back in the 70s were not great.
There’s also a rumor that one of the officers claimed he killed Sigrid “as a joke” at another police station. This comes across more as gossip than an actual event and is insufficient to verify as evidence.
The suspect that aligns the most is Chuck, a member of the play. His role during the play was a police officer, and he had handcuffs as a prop. That’s what brings Susie Bank into play, Chuck’s ex. Years later, she claimed that Chuck was highly abusive towards her. However, this lead went cold as Chuck passed away in 2016.
The episode ends with two more suspects in a recent investigation—a man who knew how to manage the lighting on the production who claimed he did not have keys to the theatre, but he would have done, so he lied. The second suspect is one of the janitors who had a history of letting Sigrid Stevenson into the building after hours. He was fired from the college after this horrific event occurred and went on a drug detox program. He was also not polygraphed.
This is a good mystery because either the police massively missed the mark, or it’s the design of a clever killer or both. I suspect this mystery could still be solved today—that’s if it isn’t Chuck. If it is Chuck, it may be harder to prove.
Grade: B
Episode 5 – “The Mothman Revisited”
A depiction of The Mothman (Credit – Netflix)
Okay, I won’t take too long to measure this mystery’s strength. Not because I’m being cynical, but I highly doubt that we’ll know the facts in our lifetime if the claims in this episode are even true. This is the issue when mysteries are reduced to UFO sightings, Bigfoot, etc — it’s difficult to parse bad or good information. Some people seek fame with exaggerated stories, while others are genuinely spooked by their experiences.
Episode 5 collects many accounts of people saying The Mothman. The series takes the audience to Wauconda, Illinois, 50 miles Northwest of Chicago. Plenty of paranormal investigators are investigating the sighting of The Mothman, and it’s become a local myth.
The Mothman is described as 8 feet tall, with fur, feathers, and big red eyes. The true crime series delves into the history of winged humanoid sightings. This creature, in particular, cannot be explained, and people have been tracking sightings since 2011.
Apparently, the Mothman only appears when catastrophe is about to strike. Many rumours circulate that it appeared right before Chernobyl and is hailed as a “Prophet of Doom;” however, there’s no real consensus.
Of course, I care that people have been terrified of coming across The Mothman, and someone like myself who is agnostic does not rule anything out in the spiritual and real world. However, I always boil this down to smartphones. In 2023, how come no one has whipped out their phone to record this being—even if it suddenly flies off, it’s better than nothing. And the claims are the creature screeches, so we’d at least hear the sound.
We will not figure out this mystery from this episode alone. Eye witness accounts are not enough, sorry.
Grade: F
