1
00:00:01,980 --> 00:00:04,540
My name is Earl.
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00:00:04,650 --> 00:00:07,710
[Earl Narrating]
Ernie's Crab Shack was named after three things:
3
00:00:07,820 --> 00:00:09,720
The food they're most famous for...
4
00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:13,250
the type ofbuilding it was
and the owner- Ernie Belcher.
5
00:00:13,350 --> 00:00:16,080
And after 54 years ofbeing in business...
6
00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:18,320
the crabs and the Shack are still around...
7
00:00:18,430 --> 00:00:20,520
but old Ernie's been missin'for years.
8
00:00:20,630 --> 00:00:23,890
And until today, we never thought
we'd find out what happened to him.
9
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,660
It's comin' on! Oh, my God! It's comin' on!
10
00:00:26,770 --> 00:00:30,570
It's comin' on, it's comin' on,
it's comin' on, it's comin' on.
11
00:00:30,670 --> 00:00:32,830
Our Inside Probe is finally comin' on.
12
00:00:32,940 --> 00:00:35,140
- Man, I can't believe they're finally gonna air that.
- [TVOn]
13
00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,340
It's been, like, eight years.
I wonder what took 'em so long.
14
00:00:38,450 --> 00:00:41,510
Actually, that's my fault. Now that
I'm no longer in Witness Protection...
15
00:00:41,620 --> 00:00:43,520
I was able to finally sign
the release papers.
16
00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:45,310
Next week, my Wheel of Fortune will air.
17
00:00:45,420 --> 00:00:47,980
All day long
with that Witness Protection mess.
18
00:00:48,090 --> 00:00:49,490
How long you gonna milk that thing?
19
00:00:49,590 --> 00:00:51,580
We all got stories we're proud of.
20
00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:53,590
I went to the prom as a sixth grader.
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00:00:53,690 --> 00:00:56,360
Now shut up. It's startin'.
22
00:00:56,460 --> 00:01:00,460
## [Theme: Synthesizer, Piano]
23
00:01:00,570 --> 00:01:02,970
Hi. I'm Geraldo Rivera
sitting in for Stone Phillips...
24
00:01:03,070 --> 00:01:05,940
who's recovering from
some pretty serious plastic surgery.
25
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,470
Welcome to another edition of Inside Probe.
26
00:01:08,580 --> 00:01:11,600
Eight years ago, we visited
the small town of Camden...
27
00:01:11,710 --> 00:01:15,080
where a search for the missing owner
of a seafood restaurant...
28
00:01:15,180 --> 00:01:17,810
uncovers some fishy details...
29
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,320
and an ocean of possibilities.
30
00:01:20,420 --> 00:01:23,480
Tonight on Inside Probe- a small-town bar.
31
00:01:23,590 --> 00:01:26,920
A likable restaurant owner,
Ernie Belcher, disappears.
32
00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:30,260
Was it murder? And if so, who did it?
33
00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,460
Why would someone want
Ernie Belcher out of the picture?
34
00:01:33,570 --> 00:01:36,870
What surprises do the local police
have in store for them?
35
00:01:36,970 --> 00:01:39,130
And what is this guy talking about?
36
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,140
Two days to find a way
to get four Floridas on time...
37
00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,410
and ride out of here for where you
and your sister's bedpost...
38
00:01:46,510 --> 00:01:49,480
wanted me to go in the first place.
39
00:01:49,580 --> 00:01:53,420
Join us for the next 30 minutes
as we probe inside the case...
40
00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,820
of the disappearance
of the Crab Shack's Ernie Belcher...
41
00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,550
in "Claws of Death: Unknown."
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00:02:06,170 --> 00:02:08,930
It's back on! It's back on!
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00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,730
## [Theme Plays]
44
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,600
To fully understand
the disappearance of Ernie Belcher...
45
00:02:15,710 --> 00:02:18,540
first you have to understand
the town of Camden.
46
00:02:18,650 --> 00:02:20,550
And to understand the town of Camden...
47
00:02:20,650 --> 00:02:23,170
you have to understand
the people who live here...
48
00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,910
in this town
nestled in the heart of America.
49
00:02:26,020 --> 00:02:27,720
- [Horn Honks]
- [Earl] Hey, "Gerardo"!
50
00:02:27,820 --> 00:02:31,190
- [Bleeps] you!
- [Both Laughing]
51
00:02:31,290 --> 00:02:34,020
[Geraldo Narrating]
Earl Jehosophat Hickey.
52
00:02:34,130 --> 00:02:36,030
Born and raised in Camden County...
53
00:02:36,130 --> 00:02:38,890
Earl epitomizes the Camden experience.
54
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,990
Brought into the world
as an innocent young child...
55
00:02:42,100 --> 00:02:45,400
full ofhopes and dreams,
only to eventually realize...
56
00:02:45,510 --> 00:02:48,530
he is stuck in this dead-end town
for the rest ofhis life.
57
00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:50,540
Hope turns to despair.
58
00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:52,540
And often in towns like this...
59
00:02:52,650 --> 00:02:54,910
- crime is seen as the only way out.
- [Siren Wails]
60
00:02:55,020 --> 00:02:57,850
- And Mr. Hickey is no stranger to crime...
- [Police Radio Chatter]
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00:02:57,950 --> 00:03:00,390
With 77 misdemeanors under his belt.
62
00:03:00,490 --> 00:03:03,180
Hickey steals anything
he can get his hands on...
63
00:03:03,290 --> 00:03:05,590
including, apparently, one of our cameras.
64
00:03:05,690 --> 00:03:08,090
Whoo-hoo! Look at me!
65
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,630
I'm Gerardo!
[Laughs]
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00:03:10,730 --> 00:03:13,260
And when he's not committing petty thefts...
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00:03:13,370 --> 00:03:16,460
he's at his favorite restaurant,
Ernie's Crab Shack...
68
00:03:16,570 --> 00:03:19,510
enjoying his favorite food-beer.
69
00:03:20,670 --> 00:03:23,700
Everyone loved Ernie. He was funny.
70
00:03:23,810 --> 00:03:26,610
Sometimes when you weren't
lookin', he'd drop a peanut in your beer.
71
00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:28,610
Then when you'd get
to the end of your beer...
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00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,910
you'd be, like, "Whoa, where'd
that peanut come from?"
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00:03:32,020 --> 00:03:34,450
Sure enough, every time, you'd look up...
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00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,650
and there'd be old Ernie
with a smile on his face.
75
00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,490
Like that dude who ate a canary.
76
00:03:39,590 --> 00:03:41,490
[Geraldo Narrating]
Randy Hickey-
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00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,760
the younger and, if you can believe it,
stupider brother of Earl Hickey.
78
00:03:44,870 --> 00:03:49,130
Randall Doo Hickey
was Camden County's first ever...
79
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,530
unintentional underwater birth.
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00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,610
At an early age, he developed
a love for guns...
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00:03:54,710 --> 00:03:57,110
smashing things with shovels...
82
00:03:57,210 --> 00:03:59,510
and balancing things on his head.
83
00:03:59,610 --> 00:04:02,380
But eventually,
Randy turned to crime as well.
84
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,610
Also with 77 misdemeanors under his belt...
85
00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,380
Randy is a classic example
of"Dummy see, dummy do."
86
00:04:10,490 --> 00:04:14,860
Like everyone in this town,
Randy has his own fond memories of Ernie.
87
00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,490
Ernie taught me how to tie my shoes.
88
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,730
I've known him for a long time-
almost two years.
89
00:04:20,830 --> 00:04:23,460
Ernie used to let me play
the claw machine for free.
90
00:04:23,570 --> 00:04:27,200
But if I got a prize bigger than my fist,
I had to throw it back.
91
00:04:27,310 --> 00:04:30,330
I don't know where he went,
but I'm sure he'll come home soon.
92
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,640
Sometimes people just go away for a while.
93
00:04:33,750 --> 00:04:36,220
Aliens take 'em for a ride
on their spaceship.
94
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,550
I'm always on the lookout for aliens.
95
00:04:38,650 --> 00:04:40,550
I'm not scared of'em.
96
00:04:40,650 --> 00:04:43,320
I just wanna make sure
I don't miss my turn to take a ride.
97
00:04:43,420 --> 00:04:47,260
Randy! Are those your toenails
in the ice cube tray?
98
00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,820
[Geraldo Narrating]
Joy Farrah Hickey- wife of Earl Hickey.
99
00:04:50,930 --> 00:04:54,700
Born Joy Farrah Darville,
this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty...
100
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,000
always had dreams of stardom.
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00:04:57,100 --> 00:05:02,010
But when those dreams faded,
she, too, turned to a life of crime.
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00:05:02,110 --> 00:05:04,840
This low-rent Bonnie
to Hickey's half-wit Clyde...
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00:05:04,950 --> 00:05:09,250
has a rap sheet with crimes ranging from
impersonating the handicapped...
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00:05:09,350 --> 00:05:12,680
huffing stolen paint
and robbing the Afro Hut.
105
00:05:12,790 --> 00:05:16,880
We caught up with Joy at her home
in the Pimmit Hills Trailer Park.
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00:05:17,930 --> 00:05:19,830
[Joy]
I knew Ernie...
107
00:05:19,930 --> 00:05:22,450
but I didn't know Ernie
as good as everybody else.
108
00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,090
I'm not originally from Camden.
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00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,030
I grew up one town over, in Nathanville-
much classier.
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00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:32,470
My family owns a very successful
water bed business.
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00:05:32,570 --> 00:05:34,800
Anyway, Ernie was cool.
112
00:05:34,910 --> 00:05:39,000
One time, this drunk guy
tried to dry-hump me in the parking lot-
113
00:05:39,110 --> 00:05:42,480
- [Heavy Breathing]
- while I was bendin'over
picking up this nickel I found.
114
00:05:42,580 --> 00:05:45,280
Ernie sprayed him with a water hose.
115
00:05:45,390 --> 00:05:48,250
He was always there for his customers.
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00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:49,950
Oh, yeah. Ernie.
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00:05:50,060 --> 00:05:53,960
That crazy son of a bitch
was always sprayin' me with a hose.
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00:05:54,060 --> 00:05:55,960
[Geraldo Narrating]
If you recognize this man...
119
00:05:56,060 --> 00:06:00,120
you may be among the dozens who have
enjoyed his work on the small screen.
120
00:06:00,230 --> 00:06:03,400
He is Camden County's own TV's Tim Stack.
121
00:06:03,500 --> 00:06:05,600
Supposedly born in Camden County...
122
00:06:05,710 --> 00:06:09,970
Tim was found naked,
except for a diaper, in a cucumber patch.
123
00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,340
He was 14 years old.
124
00:06:12,450 --> 00:06:16,040
Taken in by former FatherJoe
and former Father Ed...
125
00:06:16,150 --> 00:06:20,020
Tim has blocked out
nearly every memory ofhis childhood...
126
00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,520
and now considers himself
to have a healthy addiction to vodka.
127
00:06:23,620 --> 00:06:25,850
I liked Ernie. We had a deal.
128
00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,550
I used to do a little dinner theater
here a couple nights a week...
129
00:06:29,660 --> 00:06:32,760
and he wouldn't bother me
when I needed to use the bathroom...
130
00:06:32,870 --> 00:06:35,800
to, uh, "powder my nose"...
131
00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:38,930
with a little white lightning.
132
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,200
Let's just say it used to
snow a lot back in the day.
133
00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,300
I'm talking about cocaine.
134
00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:49,580
Tim, man, what was that pill you gave me?
135
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,020
I don't know. What color was it?
136
00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,750
Is this real life, man?
137
00:06:54,860 --> 00:06:56,910
Is it gonna be like this forever?
138
00:06:57,020 --> 00:06:59,790
[Screaming]
139
00:06:59,890 --> 00:07:02,560
[Geraldo Narrating]
Wilfrid Dierkes- Tim Stack's agent.
140
00:07:02,660 --> 00:07:05,630
Wilfrid Dierkes
was a weird little kid...
141
00:07:05,730 --> 00:07:08,500
who grew into
a morbidly obese teenager...
142
00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,400
who shrunk back into a weird little adult.
143
00:07:11,510 --> 00:07:15,000
Yeah. Tim's a pretty good actor,
and I've got an online law degree.
144
00:07:15,110 --> 00:07:17,470
We got a little side business
where Tim does slip-and-falls...
145
00:07:17,580 --> 00:07:19,480
and I settle things out of court.
146
00:07:19,580 --> 00:07:21,480
Last year, we did close to four figures...
147
00:07:21,580 --> 00:07:24,350
which pretty much covered
Tim's medical bills.
148
00:07:24,450 --> 00:07:26,610
Wilfrid, this one didn't go through either.
149
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,950
I think it's your library card.
150
00:07:29,060 --> 00:07:32,220
[Geraldo Narrating]
Darnell Turner-A.K.A. "The Crabman."
151
00:07:32,330 --> 00:07:35,560
Ernie's favorite employee
was evasive about his past...
152
00:07:35,660 --> 00:07:37,560
which could only mean one thing.
153
00:07:37,660 --> 00:07:39,150
[Whispering]
Witness Protection.
154
00:07:39,270 --> 00:07:42,290
But he could not deny that
he knew more about Ernie...
155
00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:44,500
than anyone else in Camden.
156
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,000
Ernie was a genius.
He understood that if you introduced...
157
00:07:47,110 --> 00:07:50,080
a very low grade of seafood
to a population a little bit at a time...
158
00:07:50,180 --> 00:07:53,080
peoples' stomachs would adapt-
and he was right.
159
00:07:53,180 --> 00:07:56,240
You should see some of the stuff we serve.
Basically it's chum.
160
00:07:56,350 --> 00:07:58,380
Aside from coworkers
and the regular customers...
161
00:07:58,490 --> 00:08:00,390
did Ernie have any other friends?
162
00:08:00,490 --> 00:08:03,460
Oh, yeah. He was really good friends
with Michael Waltrip.
163
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,490
[Geraldo Narrating]
NASCAR's Michael Waltrip...
164
00:08:05,590 --> 00:08:08,860
an unlikely friend
to this small-town restauranteur.
165
00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,260
While in Camden, Michael Waltrip
likes to stay at the Palm Motel...
166
00:08:13,370 --> 00:08:15,390
where, according to their brochure...
167
00:08:15,500 --> 00:08:17,900
if a hooker comes to your room by mistake...
168
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,060
you don't have to pay her.
169
00:08:20,170 --> 00:08:23,800
I met Ernie at a autograph signing
at a NAPA auto parts store in Mount Trace.
170
00:08:23,910 --> 00:08:25,380
And wejust hit it off.
171
00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,500
After that, we started hangin'out
whenever I came through town.
172
00:08:27,610 --> 00:08:29,310
He really understood me.
173
00:08:29,420 --> 00:08:32,510
We both had brothers that competed with us
in the same business.
174
00:08:32,620 --> 00:08:35,320
My brother, Darrell,
was a race car driver also.
175
00:08:35,420 --> 00:08:38,410
And his brother, Quizno-
he invented the toasted sub.
176
00:08:38,530 --> 00:08:40,620
So how'd you guys blow off steam together?
177
00:08:40,730 --> 00:08:42,630
Walk me through a typical day...
178
00:08:42,730 --> 00:08:45,060
in the friendship of Ernie Belcher
and Michael Waltrip.
179
00:08:45,170 --> 00:08:48,760
Oh, pool, pinball, makin'left-hand turns.
180
00:08:48,870 --> 00:08:50,630
You know, guy stuff.
181
00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:53,600
Aside from you, is there anyone else
special in Ernie's life?
182
00:08:53,710 --> 00:08:58,300
Oh, yeah. Ernie had some lady friends
he was very fond of.
183
00:08:58,410 --> 00:09:02,580
[Geraldo Narrating]
One of those women was Catalina Rana Aruca...
184
00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,670
Camden County's first hot immigrant.
185
00:09:04,790 --> 00:09:07,980
Catalina was born in the small town
of Guadalatucky...
186
00:09:08,090 --> 00:09:10,610
and came to Camden in a box...
187
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,020
to seek fame and fortune
in the land of opportunity.
188
00:09:14,130 --> 00:09:16,100
The other woman in Ernie's life...
189
00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,760
was daytime hooker
Patricia Michelle Weezmer.
190
00:09:18,870 --> 00:09:20,770
Come back when you're alone, sweetie.
191
00:09:20,870 --> 00:09:23,960
Got a Father's Day special all month long.
192
00:09:24,070 --> 00:09:27,600
Half Cherokee, Patty spent
the first several years ofher life...
193
00:09:27,710 --> 00:09:29,610
on an Indian reservation...
194
00:09:29,710 --> 00:09:32,940
before her mother divorced her father,
Chasing Squirrel...
195
00:09:33,050 --> 00:09:35,310
and moved to their new home in Camden.
196
00:09:35,420 --> 00:09:39,980
Patty splits her time between selling
her body to strangers during the day...
197
00:09:40,090 --> 00:09:43,680
and starring in local community theater
productions in the evening.
198
00:09:43,790 --> 00:09:48,390
Ernie was the best-
quick, clean, very polite.
199
00:09:48,500 --> 00:09:50,550
"No" really meant "no" with him.
200
00:09:50,660 --> 00:09:53,060
We both kinda dated Ernie as a team.
201
00:09:53,170 --> 00:09:55,930
He'd come see me dance for a while,
get all worked up...
202
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,230
and then take Patty out in the parking lot.
203
00:09:58,340 --> 00:10:01,900
She'd shake up the bottle, and I'd pop the cork.
[Pops Lips]
204
00:10:02,010 --> 00:10:04,810
It seemed as if everyone loved Ernie...
205
00:10:04,910 --> 00:10:07,400
and they thought Ernie
would be around forever.
206
00:10:07,510 --> 00:10:12,750
And that was true,
if by "forever" they meant April 9, 2001.
207
00:10:12,850 --> 00:10:14,750
It was a pretty quiet morning.
208
00:10:14,860 --> 00:10:18,420
Um, Officer Lisa-
209
00:10:18,530 --> 00:10:21,430
I don't know her last name.
She's around here somewhere.
210
00:10:21,530 --> 00:10:25,190
- Tall, decent face. Small boobies.
- Oh.
211
00:10:25,300 --> 00:10:29,200
Anyway, she had brought in some bagels
with pumpkin cream cheese. Delicious.
212
00:10:29,300 --> 00:10:32,860
It's like a little pumpkin pie,
but a bagel, you know, so it's good for you.
213
00:10:32,970 --> 00:10:35,440
We werejust enjoying the heck
out of those things.
214
00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:36,940
- [Ringing]
- Then the phone started lightin'up.
215
00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,010
[Woman On Tape]
216
00:10:53,030 --> 00:10:54,930
[Man On Tape]
217
00:11:08,710 --> 00:11:10,730
- [Beeps]
- [Woman On Tape]
218
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:12,740
- [Randy On Tape]
Baba Booey! Baba Booey!
- [Beeps]
219
00:11:12,850 --> 00:11:15,080
It's police policy not to waste resources...
220
00:11:15,180 --> 00:11:17,550
Iooking for a missing person
in the first 24 hours...
221
00:11:17,650 --> 00:11:19,550
because they usually show up on their own.
222
00:11:19,650 --> 00:11:22,650
And after 24 hours,
if they're still missing...
223
00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,730
usually means they're dead, so we don't look
for them that hard then either.
224
00:11:25,830 --> 00:11:27,820
- Are you wearing makeup?
- No.
225
00:11:27,930 --> 00:11:30,400
Anyway, when Ernie didn't show up,
we started to think the worst-
226
00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:32,430
murder.
227
00:11:35,740 --> 00:11:38,000
- You're wearing makeup.
- Fine. Yes. I am.
228
00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:41,470
You saw me on Cops.
I looked like I hadn't slept in weeks.
229
00:11:41,580 --> 00:11:43,740
[Geraldo On TV]
Could Ernie have been killed?
230
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,240
It's possible. But if so, by who?
231
00:11:46,350 --> 00:11:48,250
In a town where all the Little League teams...
232
00:11:48,350 --> 00:11:52,610
are sponsored by bail bondsmen,
pawnshops and methadone clinics...
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00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,980
how do you narrow down the suspects?
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00:11:55,090 --> 00:11:57,110
Was it the petty thief...
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00:11:57,220 --> 00:11:58,920
his simpleton brother...
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00:11:59,030 --> 00:12:01,190
the stay-at-trailer mom...
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00:12:01,290 --> 00:12:03,160
the black coworker...
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00:12:03,260 --> 00:12:05,030
the immigrant stripper...
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00:12:05,130 --> 00:12:07,120
the so-called "celebrity"...
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00:12:07,230 --> 00:12:09,170
the small-time agent...
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00:12:09,270 --> 00:12:10,600
the black coworker...
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00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:12,430
or the daytime hooker?
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00:12:12,540 --> 00:12:15,770
We'll learn more when Inside Probe returns.
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00:12:18,410 --> 00:12:22,040
- Did they just show me twice?
- I don't think so.
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00:12:22,150 --> 00:12:24,140
I think they showed me twice.
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00:12:27,490 --> 00:12:29,850
## [Theme Plays]
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00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:31,650
Now back to our story.
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00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,560
Eight years ago,
local Camden restauranteur Ernie Belcher...
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00:12:35,660 --> 00:12:37,630
vanished without a trace.
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00:12:37,730 --> 00:12:42,230
The problem was figuring out
which small-town lowlife was responsible.
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00:12:42,340 --> 00:12:44,900
With no motive, no body...
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00:12:45,010 --> 00:12:47,570
and a police department fishing trip looming...
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00:12:47,670 --> 00:12:50,840
Ernie Belcher's case looked like
it was going to be closed.
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00:12:50,940 --> 00:12:52,840
But then police caught a break.
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00:12:54,650 --> 00:12:57,080
Uh, we were just going through the victim's
office. You know, standard procedure.
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00:12:57,180 --> 00:12:59,850
We say we're looking for clues,
but it's reallyjust to find stuff...
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00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:03,480
to auction off at our department fund-raiser.
[Chuckles]
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00:13:03,590 --> 00:13:07,360
[Geraldo Narrating]
As they tried to raise money
for their break room foosball table...
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00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:10,360
the police found one thing
they could not auction off-
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00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:13,190
hundreds of threatening letters
addressed to Ernie...
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00:13:13,300 --> 00:13:16,460
all from this man- Randy Hickey.
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00:13:19,540 --> 00:13:24,500
[Randy's Voice] Dear Ernie,
how dare you stop providin'free toothpicks?
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00:13:24,610 --> 00:13:28,170
What kind ofjerk serves
corn and pulled meat...
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00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,270
and doesn't offer his customers...
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00:13:30,380 --> 00:13:34,620
a way to get those items
unlodged from their teeth?
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00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:40,630
Attached is everything I've had stuck
in my mouth for the last two weeks.
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00:13:40,730 --> 00:13:42,790
I hope you choke on it.
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00:13:42,900 --> 00:13:45,060
And the threats didn't stop there.
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00:13:45,170 --> 00:13:47,070
[Randy's Voice]
Dear Ernie...
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00:13:47,170 --> 00:13:51,000
how dare you only serve my favorite item-
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00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:54,600
fish wings- on "Wenedsdays"?
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00:13:54,710 --> 00:13:58,940
I have included a list
of famous people who agree...
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00:13:59,050 --> 00:14:02,500
that fish wings should be sold every day.
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00:14:02,620 --> 00:14:06,210
Do as we say, or somethin'bad will happen.
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00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,880
Is it possible that a man
could lose his life...
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00:14:08,990 --> 00:14:11,650
over toothpicks and fish wings?
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00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:13,730
That's what police wanted to know.
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00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,390
"Bad things will happen
if fish wings aren't served every day"?
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00:14:20,500 --> 00:14:22,660
What kind of bad things will happen, Randy?
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00:14:22,770 --> 00:14:25,170
I don't know. People will be angry.
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00:14:25,270 --> 00:14:27,670
Fish wings are great.
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00:14:27,770 --> 00:14:31,970
The only bad part is sometimes
the real chewy pieces get stuck in your teeth...
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00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,170
which wouldn't even be a problem
if they still offered free toothpicks.
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00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,940
But no! Ernie got rid of the toothpicks...
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00:14:38,050 --> 00:14:40,750
because he said people
were just usin' 'em to poke each other.
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00:14:40,850 --> 00:14:42,750
[Shouting]
But what he didn't realize...
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00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:46,310
is that some of us are usin' 'em
to get stuff out of our teeth...
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00:14:46,430 --> 00:14:48,330
before we poked each other!
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00:14:48,430 --> 00:14:50,760
Now we're gonna have to poke
each other with our fingers...
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00:14:50,860 --> 00:14:53,300
while we got fish wings stuck in our teeth!
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00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,860
Damn it! Why are you making me
relive this again?
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00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,130
[Geraldo Narrating]
Obviously full of rage...
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00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,700
police were happy
to have this monster off the streets.
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00:15:02,810 --> 00:15:06,370
- But even though they had a suspect in custody...
- [Toilet Flushes]
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00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,040
Police were not convinced
that a man who is routinely arrested...
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00:15:09,150 --> 00:15:12,310
for getting stuck in the return box
while trying to steal videos...
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00:15:12,420 --> 00:15:15,220
could kill someone
and hide the body all by himself.
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00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,290
So they started looking for an accomplice.
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00:15:17,390 --> 00:15:19,290
- [Gags]
- [Stomach Gurgling]
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00:15:21,730 --> 00:15:23,700
[Hoyne]
Would you like a cup of coffee?
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00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:30,800
Tell me where the hell you and your lowlife
brother were the night Ernie disappeared!
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00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:32,800
Come on, man. It was night.
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00:15:32,910 --> 00:15:35,240
I don't know where we were.
We were drunk.
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00:15:35,340 --> 00:15:37,240
We were getting pretty desperate...
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00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:41,210
so I had to deploy a somewhat advanced
interrogation technique-
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00:15:41,310 --> 00:15:43,870
a little thing my grandma called "lying."
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00:15:44,980 --> 00:15:46,680
Well.
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00:15:46,790 --> 00:15:48,720
Your brother confessed.
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00:15:48,820 --> 00:15:51,690
And if you want to get the same deal he got,
you'd better confess too.
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00:15:51,790 --> 00:15:53,550
Or you're gonna get
the death penalty for sure.
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00:15:53,660 --> 00:15:55,360
He didn't confess.
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00:15:55,460 --> 00:15:58,160
You're just trying to get me
to admit something I didn't do.
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00:15:58,260 --> 00:16:00,890
I know all about reverse biology, buddy.
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00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,200
I'm not an idiot. This isn't gonna work.
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00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:05,100
Think it'll work on your brother?
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00:16:07,170 --> 00:16:09,840
My brother said we did it? We killed Ernie?
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00:16:09,940 --> 00:16:11,740
Yep. He said you guys were drunk...
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00:16:11,850 --> 00:16:13,610
and there wasn't anything
good on TV that night...
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00:16:13,710 --> 00:16:16,340
so you decided to go down to the Crab Shack
and take Ernie's life.
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00:16:16,450 --> 00:16:18,440
- Any of that ring a bell?
- Maybe.
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00:16:18,550 --> 00:16:21,040
I mean, if he said we did it,
we probably did.
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00:16:21,150 --> 00:16:23,050
But I don't know.
It sounds a little strange.
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00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,750
There's usually something pretty good on TV.
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00:16:25,860 --> 00:16:27,760
Randy! Don't do it!
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00:16:27,860 --> 00:16:31,260
Don't confess! They're lyin' to you!
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00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,230
- [Muffled Pounding]
- What's that?
327
00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:35,820
Oh, that's your brother.
They're bangin' his head against the wall...
328
00:16:35,940 --> 00:16:37,560
until you confess to killing Ernie.
329
00:16:37,670 --> 00:16:40,640
He'll probably die in the next few seconds
if you don't confess.
330
00:16:40,740 --> 00:16:42,770
Then we did it! We killed Ernie!
331
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,110
We killed Ernie!
We killed Ernie! We killed Ernie!
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00:16:47,810 --> 00:16:50,650
With a trial approaching
and very limited funds...
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00:16:50,750 --> 00:16:55,650
the Hickey boys were forced
to hire the only lawyer they could afford.
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00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,160
Wilfrid Dierkes- lawyer for poor people.
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00:16:58,260 --> 00:17:01,460
"Se llamo Espanol."
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00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,460
[Geraldo Narrating]
After a brief negotiation...
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00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,900
that ended with a $35 check
written by us to their lawyer...
338
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,600
the Hickeys agreed to sit down
with Inside Probe.
339
00:17:11,700 --> 00:17:15,440
Your trial's a couple days away.
It doesn't look good. What's your strategy?
340
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:22,350
Oh. Oh, um, well, with the mustached one,
I'm gonna plead insanity.
341
00:17:22,450 --> 00:17:25,080
And for the big fella here,
I think I'm gonna plead, uh, retardity.
342
00:17:25,180 --> 00:17:26,650
Sounds good.
343
00:17:26,750 --> 00:17:28,780
Gerardo, we didn't do this.
You gotta help us, man.
344
00:17:28,890 --> 00:17:31,520
I can't go to jail.
I had a dream the other night.
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00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:35,250
I went to jail, then I got out
and got hit by a car and was in a coma.
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00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:38,730
Me in a coma?
Come on, man. Nobody wants to see that.
347
00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:47,540
With public opinion against them,
a confession...
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00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,970
and a lawyer with a law degree
from Haiti...
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00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,740
the Hickeys looked
to be going away for a long time.
350
00:17:52,850 --> 00:17:54,310
Or were they?
351
00:17:54,410 --> 00:17:58,320
Remember this man-
two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip?
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00:17:59,820 --> 00:18:01,510
Yeah, I remember the night
Ernie disappeared.
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00:18:01,620 --> 00:18:04,780
[Geraldo Narrating]
Waltrip agreed to reenact that night for us...
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00:18:04,890 --> 00:18:06,620
with the help of our Inside Probe Actors.
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00:18:06,730 --> 00:18:10,360
- [No Audible Dialogue]
- [Waltrip]
I was drivin'through Camden between races...
356
00:18:10,460 --> 00:18:14,130
and I thought why not stop off
and see my old buddy Ernie?
357
00:18:14,230 --> 00:18:17,730
I sat in the bar for about an hour or so
catching up with Ernie.
358
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,730
That's about when this drunk woman
offered to flash me...
359
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,310
if I agreed to buy her a beer
and share it with her.
360
00:18:25,410 --> 00:18:27,970
I wasn't drinkin; so I declined.
361
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,170
But she flashed me anyway.
362
00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:35,180
The next thing I know,
the woman's husband is in my face...
363
00:18:35,290 --> 00:18:38,990
demanding that I not only
buy his wife a beer, but I get him one too.
364
00:18:39,090 --> 00:18:40,990
And then his brother-he comes up...
365
00:18:41,090 --> 00:18:44,000
and wants a cheeseburger
for pulling his pants down.
366
00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:47,600
Well, since beers were only a dollar...
367
00:18:47,700 --> 00:18:50,430
I went ahead and bought 'em all one,
along with the burger.
368
00:18:50,540 --> 00:18:53,700
Unfortunately for the woman,
I think that was her "one beer too many."
369
00:18:53,810 --> 00:18:56,000
- [Thud]
- [Bottle Shatters]
370
00:18:56,110 --> 00:18:58,010
The other two weren't doin'much better.
371
00:18:58,110 --> 00:19:00,600
But since they were fun,
I decided to hang out with them...
372
00:19:00,710 --> 00:19:05,980
and be their designated
two-time Daytona 500 winning driver.
373
00:19:06,090 --> 00:19:09,890
Fortunately for those guys, I'm a bit
of a shutterbug, and I had my camera with me.
374
00:19:09,990 --> 00:19:12,750
I got a pretty complete record
of what happened that night.
375
00:19:12,860 --> 00:19:17,060
[Geraldo Narrating] With an airtight alibi
from a two-time Daytona 500 winner...
376
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:21,290
the Hickey boys were released
and sent home to their loved ones...
377
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,200
and Inside Probe was there for the reunion.
378
00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:26,270
We're free!
379
00:19:26,370 --> 00:19:28,360
Hey.
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00:19:30,340 --> 00:19:32,740
[Geraldo Narrating]
With the Hickey brothers cleared of all charges...
381
00:19:32,850 --> 00:19:35,010
a lot of questions were answered.
382
00:19:35,110 --> 00:19:37,740
A lot of questions except one.
383
00:19:37,850 --> 00:19:40,050
Where was Ernie Belcher?
384
00:19:40,150 --> 00:19:43,050
We thought our visit to Camden was over...
385
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:48,030
but the more Inside Probe probed the inside,
the more we found.
386
00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:50,790
And you're not going
to believe the things we discover.
387
00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:53,200
Next week on Inside Probe...
388
00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:56,270
the baffling case of Ernie Belcher continues.
389
00:19:56,370 --> 00:19:59,930
So ifhe wasn't murdered,
what did happen to him?
390
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,970
Was it a long-standing historical grudge...
391
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,170
or was it something from out of this world?
392
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,340
And what the heck is this all about?
393
00:20:08,450 --> 00:20:09,570
[Gurgling]
394
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,120
Join us next week
for an ending so shocking...
395
00:20:12,220 --> 00:20:14,120
you will- [Bleeps]
Your pants.
396
00:20:14,220 --> 00:20:15,690
Inside Probe.
397
00:20:15,790 --> 00:20:18,190
Next Thursday at 8:00. 7:00 Central.
398
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,020
Are you kiddin' me? We have to wait
a whole week to find out what happened to Ernie?
399
00:20:25,130 --> 00:20:26,760
- That's ridiculous.
- I know.
400
00:20:26,870 --> 00:20:29,770
Why didn't they just show the whole thing
in a special one-hour episode?
401
00:20:29,870 --> 00:20:31,800
The network executives
probably didn't order...
402
00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:34,030
enough episodes of Inside Probe
for a whole season...
403
00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:36,040
so they had to stretch it out
over two weeks.
404
00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:38,200
That way, they don't have
to air a repeat during sweeps.
405
00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:41,510
Network executives- they sure take the cake.
406
00:20:41,610 --> 00:20:45,640
Plus they don't let people cuss anymore
on TV until a certain time at night.
407
00:20:49,890 --> 00:20:51,950
Douche bags.