Cold Case Files - The Killer's Tattoo

Episode Date: July 24, 2020

A murdered man in his 70's, a tube of hydrocortisone cream, a stolen identity, and a plea deal involving the Super Bowl. What do all of these things have in common? They're connected by a tattoo of a bouquet of roses, inscribed with the name, "Phyllis." Need a new mattress? Try PURPLE! Go to www.Purple.com/coldcase and use promo code "coldcase" to get $150 off any Purple mattress order of $1500 or more! Get a quote online at www.Progressive.com in as little as 5 minutes and see how much you could be saving!

Thank you for listening to this Podcast One production. Available on Apple Podcasts and Podcast One. Thank you. Trust Progressive and why they've recently climbed to the third largest auto insurer in the country. Get a quote online at Progressive.com in as little as five minutes and see how you could be saving. Auto insurance from Progressive Casualty Insurance Companies and Affiliates, home and renter's insurance not available in all states. Provided and serviced by affiliate and third-party insurers. Discounts vary and are not available in all states and situations. People once described Saginaw, Texas as a town you could miss if you blinked as you drove by. However, on February 3rd, 1988, Detective Nancy Wright's eyes were wide open when she was assigned to investigate Saginaw's first murder. A woman reported that she'd been unable to contact her brother, who lived alone. His body was discovered a short time later.

He'd been beaten and strangled. One third of all murder cases in America remain open. Each one is called a cold case. And only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare cases. From A&E, this is Cold Case Files, the podcast. When detectives arrive at the scene, they notice the phone cord from the wall running down the hallway and into the victim's bedroom.

The victim's name was John Dobbs, and he was found naked with the phone cord wrapped around his neck. He'd been beaten badly, and then strangled with a belt, and ultimately, the phone cord. He was 73 years old when he was murdered. Investigators search the rest of the apartment, and they're appalled at what they find. This is Detective Nancy Wright. Writing found on the bathroom mirror that read, Fags die. It appeared to have been written with a type of ointment or cream,

and there was a tube of hydrochortisone cream on the bathroom vanity. Tom Eckes, forensic analyst, processes the crime scene. He asks for fingerprints, and he finds hundreds. Eckes finds fingerprints on the hydrocortisone cream used to deface the mirror and to degrade the victim. Could those prints be the key to finding the perpetrator? Tom Eckes weighs in. You never know if it's really the perpetrator,

but we did have prints that we felt could very easily be what we'd call hot prints that are probably the perpetrator. The prints on the cream are matched to a beer can found in the kitchen, leading investigators to consider that John might have been friendly with this killer. Detective Nancy Wright starts to create a profile of the victim. She talks to the family. They tell her that John was openly gay, but he didn't have enemies. They certainly couldn't think of anyone who wanted him dead.

His neighbors tell Detective Wright that an unfamiliar man had been staying with John for around a week, though they didn't know anything else about him. While we were there, the phone rang. It was a person, a female caller, asking for Terry Green. This is Helga Wook. Well, he was telling me that he just came down here to Texas and that he needed a job.

He wanted a job. He is living with his old uncle. And he needs to support him. And that he wanted a job. Helga Wook is very patient and answers the police's questions. But she has questions of her own. What did Terry do? Why are they asking her all of these questions in the first place? When she finds out that he is potentially a murderer, her reaction is disbelief. She gives the police a description of the man. He's thin and tall, probably about 5'11". She guesses he's about 40 and has brown hair.

From that description, police create a sketch, and John's neighbors confirm the similarities between the drawing and the man staying with John. We felt it was one and the same. The victim's car was also missing, so we believe that the suspect had fled in the same. The victim's car was also missing, so we believe that the suspect had fled in the vehicle. More evidence of a connection between John Dobbs and Terry Green is found in the apartment. It comes in the form of hotel registrations with Terry's name on them. They list his employer as

Monroe Trucking Company, located in Louisiana. Detective Wright calls the company and they confirm that Terry Green is still currently employed with them, so she asked them for his description. One of the office workers there provided information about Terry Green, who was described to be like 6'4 and 200 pounds. This was a vast difference from the descriptions given to us by residents and by Helga. Given the difference in descriptions, police begin to suspect that Terry Green has been the victim of identity theft. In order to confirm their suspicions, Detective Wright arranges to meet with the real Terry Green from Louisiana. They said, we need you to come here to Saginaw, Texas, we have a problem. We think that someone has stolen your identity

and has been using it. So my wife and I went over there and they realized real quick I wasn't the one they was looking for. Confused, and probably slightly relieved, the real Mr. Green shares his alibi for the day of the murder. He was driving his truck, making a long-distance delivery to California. He isn't insulted by his potential implication in the crime, and helps the police by determining who might have had access to the information needed to steal his identity. Things like his social security number and birthday.

Green thinks for a while, and then he tells investigators about someone who might have had access to the right information. He also shares that the man he's describing was discriminatory and prejudiced to people who are gay. Someone who might write a hateful message on a bathroom mirror. Terry Green talks more about the potential suspect. He said they're better off dead than be around me. I can see where he could have done it, because he didn't like those kind of people. Terry doesn't know the suspect's last name, but the man's first name is Walter.

He'd picked him up once in Fort Worth at a truck stop. Walter was a lumper. I'm not familiar with the origins of the word, but a lumper is a person who helps truckers load and unload their trucks. Ironically, Green describes Walter as hardworking and trustworthy. The two men worked together for most of the summer and part of the fall of 1986. Terry Green was trusting, and so Walter had full access to the truck and all of the documents inside of it, including Green's wallet. I asked him if he had a driver's license.

He said, no, I lost mine. I said, well, I don't know about Texas, but in Louisiana, you could send off $5 worth of information and tell them you'd lost your driver's license, and they'll send you a copy. I thought he'd just send off to Austin and get his, but the boy done pulled a good one on me and sent down to Baton Rouge and got mine. When pressed for more information, Green tells investigators that he introduced Walter to a friend of his, a woman named Faye Reeves. Green believed that Walter and Faye had dated for a while. Detective Wright calls Faye and asks her what she remembers about Walter. She recalled that he had given her

the name of Walter Confer. She said that whenever they were in town, they would stop by and she would go out with them. When Faye describes his physical characteristics, she mentions that he had a distinguishing feature, a tattoo of a rose on one of his arms. She doesn't know which arm, but she does remember that there was a name as part of the tattoo. Phyllis. Detective Wright runs the name Walter Confer through the Social Security Administration. She finds some unreported earned income, and upon contacting the real Walter, she once again suspects a case of identity theft.

Often, unreported income is being earned by a phantom. Not the kind of phantom that sings at operas, but rather a person who works using a stolen name and documents. A person who Detective Wright believes to be a murderer. We had no way of tracking down who this person really was, so basically we had exhausted every avenue known to us. It began to look like we were never going to solve the case. She was wrong. The case would be solved. But it would take a decade to do it. In 1989, Michael Bertineau, a Louisiana resident, files his taxes the same as he does every year. It appears, though, that this year will be different. Because this year,

he's become the latest victim of a phantom that steals identities. Mr. Bertineau explains the situation. Well, when I filed my income taxes, I had W-2 forms coming in from California, Colorado, Wyoming, Ohio, Florida, and I'd never worked in any other state but Louisiana. I called the IRS and told them, And I'd never worked in any other state but Louisiana. I called the IRS and told them, and they couldn't understand that it wasn't me.

The IRS isn't so understanding, and they charge Mr. Bertineau with a fine. And he pays it, writing it off as bad luck. The thing is, when he sends his tax return the following year, it happens again. Instead of the refund he's expecting, he gets a bill for unpaid taxes. Once again, though, the IRS isn't able to help him out. I was real aggravated at him. It's like they didn't care about nothing except the money. And it just kept on for years and years. He keeps paying the fees and fines, but unlike the first year, Michael Bertineau has become suspicious.

He feels like someone must be using his name and information to work. But the IRS is unimpressed with this information. The notices continue to pile up, while his credit continues to plummet. I mean, it's like nobody believes you. You're waiting for a refund check. It doesn't come in if you took in your refund check and then you owe three times what you were supposed to get back. I mean, that's hard for a working family. Seven years later in 1996, Michael Bertineau thinks he's hit bottom. His credit is ruined and financially he struggles to prove that he's the real Michael Bertineau.

It turns out, though, the worst is still to come. One day, while cooking, he falls to the floor and wakes up in intensive care. Michael Bertineau has suffered from a massive heart attack. Not being able to do much else during this recovery period, he decides to do his own investigation. Well, after I had my surgery, I had a lot of time on my hands. I started making calls to every company that he worked for.

And I explained to him, I says, you know, I'm the real Mike Burton, though. I said, the one that was working for you stole my identity. Michael thinks he might know who the culprit is, a man that he met at a truck stop named Walter. Bertineau says the man had been down on his luck and was having car trouble, so he lent him some money. He even let the man stay with him and his family. He'd sleep in his car. He didn't want to sleep in the house.

But, you know, he'd come in, take a shower, eat supper. So, I mean, he might have seen my old driver's license sitting on a, or he dug through one of the drawers and found it. Using the information on the W-2 forms, the real Michael Bertineau calls the phantom Michael Bertineau's employers to see if he can be located. He discovers that the thief is working in Wyoming at Yellowstone National Park. He tells the IRS, hoping that this is finally the end of his financial struggles. And I told the IRS, I said, look, he's working in Yellowstone National Park as a mechanic in a garage. Do you think then you'll be able to catch him? They didn't catch him. According to Bertineau, they waited an entire month before acting on

his information. That gave plenty of time for the phantom Bertineau to disappear. Eight years had passed since his first skirmish with the IRS, but at least there was some solace for Michael Bertineau. The IRS transferred his case to their criminal division. They were finally taking his concerns seriously. Technology has improved just about everything. Phones, cars, shopping, and of course, forensic science. Yet mattresses have more or less been the same for ages.

We deserve better. And now, the mattress has finally evolved, thanks to Purple. Their patented Purple Grid instantly adapts to your body's natural shape and sleep style. Purple is for every body, no matter how you sleep. Right now, go to purple.com slash coldcase and use promo code coldcase for a limited time. You'll get $150 off any Purple mattress order of $1,500 or more. The Purple mattress is soft where you want it, firm where you need it, and comfortably cool all over. Plus, Purple is so confident in what they do that every Purple mattress comes with free shipping and returns and a risk-free

100-night trial. Experience the next evolution of sleep. Go to purple.com slash coldcase and use promo code coldcase. For a limited time, you'll get $150 off any Purple mattress order of $1,500 or more. That's purple.com slash coldcase. Promo code coldcase for $150 off any mattress order of $1,500 or more. Terms apply. The Law of Unintended Consequences is a simple but often misunderstood rule of the universe. Flashback from the iHeartRadio podcast network in Aussie is a chart-topping new podcast that Thank you. instigated the Oklahoma City bombing and how the YMCA kick-started the black market in cigarette smuggling. Listen to Flashback on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Phantom Bertineau's paper trail

leads the IRS to Gillette, Wyoming, a place the real Michael Bertineau has never been. It also leads them to a woman named Patricia Hackett. It seems her stepfather, who had been married to her mother for three years, was known to the family as Michael Bertineau. Patricia explains the day she got the call. They just told me that they thought that Michael Bertineau had stolen the identity of Michael Bertineau and that they were looking for him for that and also an income tax fraud. Patricia doesn't know her stepfather's whereabouts.

She explains to the investigators that two years ago he went fishing and never came back. She is, however, able to provide the IRS with some useful information, photos, proving that the phantom is real. Patricia provides one other piece of evidence. The only thing that I could remember that really made him stand out is that he had a tattoo on his arm with the name Phyllis in it. Investigators question others

who have known the phantom Bertineau and uncover a troubling rumor. They whisper that he had bragged about once killing a man in the state of Texas. The trail that IRS investigators are following turns out to be a circle, and it leads them back to Austin, Texas. With the hopes of connecting their Phantom to the murder he reportedly bragged about, they call law enforcement in Texas, and a ranger named Dusty McCord answered. He interviewed associates of the person who had stolen Mr. Bertineau's identity. These associates told him that on an occasion when this person had been drinking,

he made the comment that approximately 10 years previous, he had committed a homicide in Texas and that he could not go back there. He did have some photographs of this individual, and this man had a tattoo on his upper left arm approximately three roses with the name phyllis mccord a proud texas ranger accepts the challenge and gets to work he compiles the information and sends it to all the police departments in texas he happens across a cold case that fits the description the detective leading that investigation was Nancy Wright. Wright, who is now a captain,

felt optimistic about the discovery. When I first saw it, I just had a gut reaction that this was going to be him. This was going to be the key that was going to open the doors for us to be able to learn what the identity was of this man. A tall, thin man with brown hair isn't unusual, but a rose tattoo with the name Phyllis inside? That's a connection worth investigating. I was surprised that the message actually got to someone

who might have knowledge of an old homicide that was that old. Again, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high because still the chances of this being matched up were very slim. Well, I told him that we did know for sure that he had mechanic skills. We knew that he had a tattoo with the name Phyllis in it and that our murder had happened almost 10 years ago. Ranger McCord and Captain Wright agree that it's possible that fake Terry Green and fake Michael Bertineau are the same person. McCord begins a nationwide hunt, searching in the states where the phantom Bertineau had worked and lived. The ranger's investigation strategy pays off

when he discovers a driver's license issued to a Michael Bertineau in California. It was at a time when the real Michael Bertineau did not live there. The photo on the license looked like the unnamed man who had killed 73-year-old John Dobbs 10 years earlier. The license also provided another crucial piece of evidence, a thumbprint, as mandated by the state of California. The print is given to fingerprinting expert Cheryl Hubbard to see if she could find a match, and she did. Actually, she narrowed a database of about 4 million to a list of 20, but that was still too many. This is Cheryl Hubbard explaining how she narrowed her list down even further. I looked and I saw a minutiae point that was in the same position on the print,

and then I would look for another minutiae point in a similar position and then go from there. Basically, she compares the ridges and other characteristics of the print from the license to each of the 20 possible matches. Finally, with the 16-point match, the suspect list has been narrowed down even further. There's now exactly one possible suspect. I would not have called Ranger McCord if I weren't 100% sure that that was the match, and the name that came up was Robert Greer. Robert Greer appeared to be a career criminal, had been arrested on numerous occasions,

had a lengthy criminal history. The Phantom, only known by the names of others, turned out to be a con man with his own name, Robert Greer. He was definitely the man who had stolen Michael Bertinau's identity, but was he also a killer? Was he responsible for the death of John Dobbs? Remember Tom Eckes, the forensic analyst that processed the crime scene when John Dobbs was murdered? Captain Wright contacts him, asking for a comparison of the fingerprints found at the crime scene and the ones they now know belong to Robert Greer. Eckes starts with the prints from the beer cans found in the kitchen.

I was able to identify his right thumb on a beer can from the trash can in the kitchen. Greer had been in the apartment where John Dobbs was killed, near the time of his death. The investigation finally started to feel like it was paying off. Well, we were ecstatic after that, that we felt like that we had accomplished what we were wanting to do. There was one thing, though. No one knew where to locate Greer, or even what name he might be using. They circulated Greer's picture to some of the locations where he seemed to have frequented. One such place seems to be an obvious choice for someone who wants to disappear. A place called Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sergeant Headley, part of the Las Vegas Police Department's fugitive team, is now on the trail of Robert Greer. He talks with his contacts and discovers the identity of the woman that Greer had lived with locally. The woman IDs his picture and says the man was her former roommate. Sergeant Headley asks if she knew where he might be. She thought he would either be down at one of the homeless shelters or he would have went out to Lake Mead, where she met him due to the fact that when he first came to town, that's how he survived, was fishing out there and living out there and knew that he could survive again. The fugitive team looked everywhere they could think of.

Homeless shelters, parks, even the Lake Mead area. They didn't find him, though. And after two months of searching, they hit a dead end. In April of 1998, a disturbing story makes its way to the fugitive team and George Headley. A couple had been camping at Lake Mead when they met a man who joined them at their campfire. He told them a story that they couldn't forget. One night around the campfire, after doing some drinking, he basically confessed that he was on the run and that he was put into the local newspaper in Las Vegas

and that the police were looking for him. The couple verifies the story with the newspaper at a nearby library. They also tell Sergeant Headley that they bought him some clothes because he seemed to be down on his luck. This makes it easy for them to tell detectives what he'd been wearing when they parted ways just 12 hours earlier. The couple also knows the spots where Greer usually hangs out. We flew into the area and within five minutes he was spotted on the ground. I mean it was literally that quick. We

went into one wash, came over to another one where we were told that he was usually up and he was right at the bottom of the ravine and he saw us. He basically just put his hands up and gave up. He knew he was caught. Robert Greer is taken into custody in Nevada, but it's the Texas authorities who are most eager to talk with him. It was an interesting conversation. He clearly wanted to talk to me, but he was reluctant to talk specifically about the murder,

but he did talk about his life quite a bit to me. Greer is 51. He's dirty and smelly. He's living off the kindness of others at a campground. He doesn't tell Captain Wright that he murdered John Dobbs, though he seems to understand that prison will be in his future. Robert Greer asked Captain Wright a question she isn't expecting. He asked me what the gang situation was like in Texas. He was asking about prison gangs. And I asked him, why did you have problems with gangs when you were in prison before? And he said, well, not necessarily gangs, but I had problems. And he said, but I was cute then. I'm not cute anymore.

Greer's vague statement could be an insight into the trigger behind his murderous behavior. Not a justification, but rather an understanding. I believed that when he had been in prison before, he probably had been the victim of sexual assault. So I believe that our victim made a sexual advance towards the suspect and he became enraged over it and killed him in that fit of rage. Understanding the motivation behind a crime isn't a valid defense. Being assaulted while in the care of the justice system is no exception. The evidence against Greer is compelling, so he's sent back to Texas to stand trial for murder. To me, the very strongest piece of evidence was a fingerprint on a tube of hydrocortisone cream.

In the victim's apartment, in the bathroom, there had been a threatening message to homosexuals written on the mirror in what appeared to be hydrocortisone cream. And the fingerprint that was found on the hydrocortisone cream was his fingerprint. That was Christy Jack, the prosecutor assigned to Greer's case. Two weeks before Greer's trial was set to begin, he had a change of heart. Understanding that a possible trial outcome was being sentenced to his own death, he agreed to plead guilty with a single condition. He wanted to stay at the county jail until after the Super Bowl, so he could see the Minnesota Vikings play.

He ultimately agreed to plead guilty in exchange for serving 18 years in the penitentiary. We did not object to his remaining in custody in Tarrant County for the next few months. Ironically, the Vikings lost the very next week, eliminating them from the Super Bowl. Greer's hopes of watching them play in the big game were impossible. If Robert Greer serves all 18 years, he'll be 70 at the time of his release. That's almost the same age as John Dobbs when he was murdered. He should have got 11 years for what he did to me. But 11 years he put me through. That was Michael Bertineau. He was less than satisfied with Greer's

murder conviction. I'd like 10 minutes with him. Talk to him face to face. I just want him to look me straight in the face and say, I'm the real one. And you put me through hell for 11 years. Dusty McCord was satisfied with the conviction. He believed that justice did prevail. And this is why. Typically in cases like this, if there are multiple violations of both state and federal law, the individual is prosecuted for the most serious offense.

And I think that Mr. Greer is right where he needs to be, which is in the penitentiary. Thank you. were edited by Steve Delamater and distributed by Podcast One. Cold Case Files Classic was produced by Curtis Productions and hosted by the one and only Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold Case Files at aetv.com and by downloading the A&E app. Support for today's episode comes from Progressive Insurance. Fun fact, Progressive customers qualify for an average of six discounts when they sign up for Progressive Auto Insurance.

Discounts for things like enrolling in automatic payments, insuring more than one car, going paperless, and of course, being a safe driver. Plus, customers who bundle their auto with home or add renter's insurance save an average of 12% on their auto. There are so many ways to save when you switch. And once you're a customer with Progressive, you get unmatched claim service with 24-7 support online or by phone. It's no wonder why more than 20 million drivers trust Progressive and why they've recently climbed to the third largest auto insurer in the country. Get a quote online at progressive.com in as little as five minutes and see how you could be saving.