1 00:00:02,228 --> 00:00:05,504 [narrator] Jan Canty always had a deep fascination with the human mind. 2 00:00:05,506 --> 00:00:08,173 All my school counselors were interested in 3 00:00:08,175 --> 00:00:10,509 was telling me to be a teacher or a nurse or a housewife, 4 00:00:10,511 --> 00:00:12,636 and I wasn't interested in any of those occupations 5 00:00:12,638 --> 00:00:15,931 [narrator] And in psychiatri Dr. Alan Canty, 6 00:00:15,933 --> 00:00:18,517 she finds the perfect mento and partner. 7 00:00:18,594 --> 00:00:20,144 [Lowell Cauffiel] He was a a great therapist, 8 00:00:20,146 --> 00:00:22,021 very aware, very astute. 9 00:00:22,097 --> 00:00:25,399 [Jan] He introduced me to a prodigy of Freuds. 10 00:00:25,476 --> 00:00:27,401 I felt lucky to be with him 11 00:00:27,478 --> 00:00:31,155 and very confident of that we were gonna make it. 12 00:00:31,157 --> 00:00:34,283 [narrator] But behind the pedigree lies a dark secret 13 00:00:34,359 --> 00:00:36,660 that will captivate a city. 14 00:00:36,704 --> 00:00:40,664 A bizarre twist to the disappearance of Dr. Alan Canty. 15 00:00:40,666 --> 00:00:42,833 I walked into his home office, frantic, 16 00:00:42,877 --> 00:00:46,295 I looked in the mirror, and I said out loud, "He's not coming home." 17 00:00:46,371 --> 00:00:51,050 [narrator] Her husband's hidden urges have led him down a dark path. 18 00:00:51,052 --> 00:00:54,636 [Ti-Hua Chang] He was supposed to be a respected psychologist, 19 00:00:54,713 --> 00:00:58,348 while he was actually feeding drugs to a young prostitute. 20 00:00:58,350 --> 00:00:59,800 [Cauffiel] She said, "Wait a minute, 21 00:00:59,802 --> 00:01:02,519 I don't even know who my husband is anymore." 22 00:01:02,563 --> 00:01:04,772 [Gregory Osowski] She says, "I want you to be very careful." 23 00:01:04,774 --> 00:01:06,607 And I said, "Why? Does he carry a gun?" 24 00:01:06,609 --> 00:01:09,109 And she says, "He doesn't need a gun." 25 00:01:09,111 --> 00:01:11,820 I felt as if I'd walked into a movie set. 26 00:01:11,822 --> 00:01:14,031 Then I see blood in the bathtub. 27 00:01:14,784 --> 00:01:16,191 Someone was murdered here. 28 00:01:35,721 --> 00:01:38,305 [Jan] I grew up in Detroit in the 50s... 29 00:01:39,725 --> 00:01:42,309 ...and it was perfect. 30 00:01:42,311 --> 00:01:43,977 I mean, that sounds ridiculous maybe, 31 00:01:43,979 --> 00:01:47,356 but I wouldn't have traded my childhood for anybody's. 32 00:01:48,317 --> 00:01:49,983 It was a wonderful time, 33 00:01:49,985 --> 00:01:51,610 and I felt very safe, 34 00:01:51,612 --> 00:01:53,821 and very happy, carefree. 35 00:01:54,824 --> 00:01:56,990 If there is one thing I can fault my parents with 36 00:01:56,992 --> 00:02:00,452 it would be that I couldn't have a serious discussion with anybody 37 00:02:00,454 --> 00:02:02,996 about an occupation. 38 00:02:02,998 --> 00:02:05,624 Because all my school counselors were interested in 39 00:02:05,626 --> 00:02:09,586 was telling me to be a teacher or a nurse or a housewife. 40 00:02:09,588 --> 00:02:12,256 [narrator] Defying the odds 20 year old Jan Canty 41 00:02:12,258 --> 00:02:15,926 gets accepted into nearby Wayne State University. 42 00:02:15,970 --> 00:02:19,346 Now she just has to figure out a way to pay for school. 43 00:02:19,348 --> 00:02:23,892 I arrived at Wayne State around 1972 approximately. 44 00:02:23,894 --> 00:02:27,437 I looked at the school catalogue, and I just poured over it. 45 00:02:27,472 --> 00:02:30,691 Well, here in anthropology, and here is psychology. 46 00:02:31,527 --> 00:02:33,443 It was exhilarating, I loved it, 47 00:02:33,445 --> 00:02:35,028 I was challenged. 48 00:02:39,201 --> 00:02:42,411 But if you were to go within half a mile 49 00:02:43,038 --> 00:02:44,738 to the east or the north, 50 00:02:44,814 --> 00:02:48,959 you were in one of the highest crime areas in the country. 51 00:02:48,961 --> 00:02:51,503 I lived on West Grand Boulevard, 52 00:02:52,631 --> 00:02:56,341 my rent was $80 a months, I was on the third floor, 53 00:02:56,343 --> 00:02:58,302 it was a tiny studio apartment, 54 00:02:58,304 --> 00:03:00,220 my building had rats in it, 55 00:03:00,255 --> 00:03:04,183 and I put my mattress on the floor below the windo 56 00:03:04,185 --> 00:03:06,310 because of all the gunfire outside. 57 00:03:09,815 --> 00:03:12,524 [narrator] In search of a jo to help pay tuition, 58 00:03:12,526 --> 00:03:17,821 Jan is given the name of respected psychologist, Dr. Alan Canty. 59 00:03:17,865 --> 00:03:21,325 [Cauffiel] He came out of a very formal family, 60 00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:23,744 and he was bit of an odd duck. 61 00:03:23,746 --> 00:03:25,662 He was bit of an odd duck in school, 62 00:03:25,664 --> 00:03:28,040 but he was a great therapist 63 00:03:28,042 --> 00:03:29,958 very aware, very astute, 64 00:03:30,711 --> 00:03:33,587 so he found his niche in, in that. 65 00:03:33,589 --> 00:03:36,840 [Jan] I walked into Al's office, 66 00:03:36,884 --> 00:03:38,759 and it wasn't at all what I expected, 67 00:03:38,835 --> 00:03:40,293 he didn't have a suit on even. 68 00:03:40,295 --> 00:03:43,597 Didn't make good eye contact kinda bumbling, 69 00:03:43,674 --> 00:03:47,184 but smiling and encouraging 70 00:03:47,186 --> 00:03:51,104 And I explained what my goals were and what I wanted, 71 00:03:51,181 --> 00:03:52,189 and why I was there, 72 00:03:52,233 --> 00:03:54,441 and he gave me the job. 73 00:03:56,904 --> 00:03:58,645 [narrator] Jan goes to work for Alan, 74 00:03:58,722 --> 00:04:02,407 and finds herself intrigued by the enigmatic psychologis 75 00:04:02,409 --> 00:04:04,701 When he asks her out on a date, 76 00:04:04,745 --> 00:04:06,119 she says yes. 77 00:04:06,121 --> 00:04:08,163 [Jan] He took me to dinner. 78 00:04:08,165 --> 00:04:11,416 From the street, it looked like an abandoned building, 79 00:04:11,418 --> 00:04:14,544 it was an old big, big house, 80 00:04:14,546 --> 00:04:17,214 painted drab green 81 00:04:17,258 --> 00:04:20,425 with a yellow small sign that said Lelli's. 82 00:04:22,137 --> 00:04:23,762 And it's the kind of place that 83 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,807 you would drive by thinking, "Ooh, that looks kinda creepy." 84 00:04:26,883 --> 00:04:31,687 But when you drove through the alley that led to the back of the house, 85 00:04:31,689 --> 00:04:34,398 men in tuxedos parked your car. 86 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,652 He knew how to do this stuff Like, how do you order of a menu like that. 87 00:04:38,729 --> 00:04:41,113 I was just amazed how expensive it was. 88 00:04:43,409 --> 00:04:46,326 [narrator] The first date leads to a budding relationship 89 00:04:46,328 --> 00:04:49,121 based on shared academic interests. 90 00:04:49,197 --> 00:04:52,124 And he kept telling her, "You know, you're college material, 91 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,167 you're a lot smarter than you think you are." 92 00:04:54,169 --> 00:04:56,712 She saw him as almost a bit of a cheerleader. 93 00:04:56,788 --> 00:04:59,006 He introduced me to Richard Sterba. 94 00:04:59,008 --> 00:05:03,343 Richard Sterba was a prodigy of Freuds. 95 00:05:03,420 --> 00:05:06,805 And he said, "If you want to I can get you in. 96 00:05:06,882 --> 00:05:09,182 You can come to one of our seminars." 97 00:05:09,184 --> 00:05:13,103 And here I'm an undergraduate student, and I'm, like, "Yeah." 98 00:05:13,731 --> 00:05:15,856 It was my first time on a plane. 99 00:05:15,858 --> 00:05:17,399 First time I've been to New York. 100 00:05:18,319 --> 00:05:20,527 We stayed at The Plaza Hotel 101 00:05:20,738 --> 00:05:22,228 That was phenomenal. 102 00:05:22,230 --> 00:05:24,531 I can't even describe how magnificent that was. 103 00:05:24,533 --> 00:05:26,408 I had a chandelier over my bed, 104 00:05:26,485 --> 00:05:29,661 they came with bathrobes, it overlooked Central Park, 105 00:05:29,663 --> 00:05:32,831 it was, had doormen, it was like a castle. 106 00:05:36,170 --> 00:05:41,381 I fell in love with him because of the kind of perso I viewed him to be. 107 00:05:41,383 --> 00:05:44,426 I viewed him as having the best qualities of my dad. 108 00:05:44,928 --> 00:05:48,138 That he was loyal and smart 109 00:05:48,140 --> 00:05:51,975 and funny and supportive, 110 00:05:51,977 --> 00:05:54,311 and I felt lucky to be with him 111 00:05:54,355 --> 00:05:57,230 and very confident of that we were gonna make it. 112 00:06:00,819 --> 00:06:02,944 [narrator] Jan is thrilled when Alan decides 113 00:06:02,946 --> 00:06:05,155 it's time for her to meet his parents, 114 00:06:05,157 --> 00:06:08,158 but her delight fades rapidl 115 00:06:08,202 --> 00:06:11,286 [Jan] His parents were stiff and formal, 116 00:06:11,288 --> 00:06:15,332 and inquisitive to the, to the nth degree. 117 00:06:15,334 --> 00:06:18,335 [Cauffiel] His mother was the president of Detroit School Board, 118 00:06:18,337 --> 00:06:21,463 which is very lofty positio in, in Detroit. 119 00:06:22,466 --> 00:06:26,510 Father was a bigger than life self-trained psychologist 120 00:06:26,512 --> 00:06:31,390 who headed the Criminal Psychopathy Division of the recorder's court. 121 00:06:31,466 --> 00:06:35,268 He used to love to come home and tell storie 122 00:06:35,270 --> 00:06:37,729 about the criminals that he was evaluating. 123 00:06:38,399 --> 00:06:40,232 They showed me to a chair, 124 00:06:41,193 --> 00:06:42,776 and they just, particularly his mother, 125 00:06:42,853 --> 00:06:46,363 flared questions at me one after the other. 126 00:06:46,365 --> 00:06:47,697 "Do you plan on having children?" 127 00:06:47,699 --> 00:06:49,199 "Why are you in college?" 128 00:06:49,243 --> 00:06:50,634 "What do you wanna do with your degree?" 129 00:06:50,636 --> 00:06:52,744 And I quickly looked over in the corner, 130 00:06:52,746 --> 00:06:56,039 and Al was sitting in the corner biting his nails. 131 00:06:56,041 --> 00:06:57,958 And I'm like, "This is really weird." 132 00:06:58,034 --> 00:07:00,710 The subtle message being sen to me at the time 133 00:07:00,712 --> 00:07:03,839 was how fortunate I was to be there. 134 00:07:03,841 --> 00:07:07,467 That this was the Canty Family, 135 00:07:07,469 --> 00:07:10,429 and we screen people carefully to become one of us. 136 00:07:14,852 --> 00:07:18,270 We're out for breakfast one morning, 137 00:07:18,272 --> 00:07:20,021 and I asked him to marry me 138 00:07:20,023 --> 00:07:22,357 'Cause I got to thinking, "He's so shy and awkward, 139 00:07:22,359 --> 00:07:23,692 he'll never get around to the point, 140 00:07:24,027 --> 00:07:25,318 so I better do it." 141 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,028 I had a paper calendar on me 142 00:07:27,489 --> 00:07:29,322 And I had a fork in my right hand 143 00:07:29,399 --> 00:07:30,857 and the calendar in the my left hand. 144 00:07:30,859 --> 00:07:34,161 I just stuck it on a date, and it was a Saturday, 145 00:07:34,163 --> 00:07:36,163 and I said, "How about that? And he goes, "Okay." 146 00:07:36,290 --> 00:07:37,956 So we did. 147 00:07:39,001 --> 00:07:40,667 I asked my mom if I could wear her wedding dress, 148 00:07:40,744 --> 00:07:42,878 she said yes. 149 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,548 I asked my best friend to stand up for me, and she said she would. 150 00:07:46,967 --> 00:07:49,509 And he had a best man. 151 00:07:50,637 --> 00:07:52,696 We didn't go on a honeymoon. 152 00:07:52,698 --> 00:07:55,015 I had a lot of stuff to do for school, so I couldn't get away. 153 00:07:55,017 --> 00:07:56,308 It wasn't important. 154 00:07:56,810 --> 00:07:59,728 What was more important to me is a commitment. 155 00:07:59,804 --> 00:08:03,190 And I thought, he was the ma that could keep a commitment 156 00:08:03,192 --> 00:08:06,234 that he was honest and supportive, 157 00:08:06,311 --> 00:08:09,154 and genuine. 158 00:08:14,536 --> 00:08:16,143 We were house hunting, 159 00:08:16,145 --> 00:08:20,624 and all I told him I cared about was having an old house. 160 00:08:21,335 --> 00:08:23,168 He took me to Grosse Point. 161 00:08:23,170 --> 00:08:24,652 I mean, I knew it was a nice area, 162 00:08:24,654 --> 00:08:26,630 but beyond that I didn't know much about it 163 00:08:27,883 --> 00:08:29,966 I'm looking at this house and I'm like, 164 00:08:30,010 --> 00:08:32,802 "This looks like a public building, it's huge." 165 00:08:32,804 --> 00:08:37,182 Six bedrooms, six bathrooms and a carriage house. 166 00:08:37,184 --> 00:08:41,186 And I'm thinking to myself, "Why would anybody want this much space?" 167 00:08:41,188 --> 00:08:42,771 It represented he'd made it, 168 00:08:42,847 --> 00:08:45,273 that his parents could be proud of him. 169 00:08:45,350 --> 00:08:48,276 Living under those parents had to be very difficult for him. 170 00:08:48,278 --> 00:08:50,153 They were, you know, high achievers, 171 00:08:50,155 --> 00:08:53,949 and his father rarely ever complimented him, if ever. 172 00:08:56,620 --> 00:09:00,121 [Jan] His dad died of a heart attack abruptly. 173 00:09:00,666 --> 00:09:03,250 And I remember him just sobbing, 174 00:09:03,252 --> 00:09:04,793 and he put his head in my la 175 00:09:04,795 --> 00:09:08,630 and I'd never seen him that vulnerable. 176 00:09:08,707 --> 00:09:10,966 He kept saying thing like, "I'm so glad I have you, 177 00:09:11,042 --> 00:09:12,717 and thank God, you're here, 178 00:09:12,794 --> 00:09:14,844 and what would I've done without you." 179 00:09:14,846 --> 00:09:17,514 I didn't need the big house I didn't need all that. 180 00:09:17,516 --> 00:09:19,432 That was enough, just to be... 181 00:09:21,144 --> 00:09:22,468 ...vulnerable with one another, 182 00:09:22,470 --> 00:09:25,438 needing each other, and have each other's back. 183 00:09:29,611 --> 00:09:33,446 [narrator] Flushed with wealth and status she never really craved, 184 00:09:33,481 --> 00:09:37,534 Jan is surprised when the support she desire from Alan starts to fade. 185 00:09:38,996 --> 00:09:42,622 When I wanted to go on for my doctorate, I was surprised, 186 00:09:42,699 --> 00:09:45,000 'cause up to that point of time he's been very supportive. 187 00:09:47,671 --> 00:09:52,215 And he was withdrawn, he was pouty almost. 188 00:09:53,427 --> 00:09:55,010 I'm like, "Well, this is weird." 189 00:09:55,637 --> 00:09:57,846 I thought he'd be fine with it. 190 00:09:57,922 --> 00:10:00,682 I said, "Look--" I said, "It's, it's important to me, 191 00:10:00,759 --> 00:10:04,603 I think it does make sense financially to continue, 192 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:09,524 and I can do so much more with a doctorate than a masters." 193 00:10:09,526 --> 00:10:13,278 And he said, "Fine, whatever." And he got up and left. 194 00:10:13,355 --> 00:10:16,865 [Cauffiel] He liked to be in the roll were you needed him. 195 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:18,933 As Jan matured 196 00:10:18,935 --> 00:10:23,288 and learned more about psychology, he was adrift. 197 00:10:23,365 --> 00:10:27,792 She no longer needed him the way she had early in the relationship. 198 00:10:27,794 --> 00:10:34,007 [Jan] He increasingly got more edgy, more easily irritated. 199 00:10:34,084 --> 00:10:37,719 I felt we were drifting apart, I didn't know why. 200 00:10:38,263 --> 00:10:39,971 [narrator] In November 1983 201 00:10:40,048 --> 00:10:43,058 Jan comes down with mononucleosis, 202 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:46,394 and she considers going to her parents in Arizona to recoup. 203 00:10:47,272 --> 00:10:49,372 [Cauffiel] It was his 50th birthday, 204 00:10:49,374 --> 00:10:53,610 and she asked him would, you know, "Would that bother you if I went there?" 205 00:10:53,612 --> 00:10:55,236 He goes, "Oh, absolutely not." 206 00:10:55,364 --> 00:10:56,821 In fact, he insisted that she go. 207 00:10:56,898 --> 00:10:59,157 [narrator] Jan's happy to get away, 208 00:10:59,159 --> 00:11:02,911 but she make sure not to forget her husband's birthday. 209 00:11:02,913 --> 00:11:05,664 [Jan] I set my timer and I woke up and I called him, 210 00:11:05,740 --> 00:11:10,085 and it was difficult to talk 'cause my throat was so raw. 211 00:11:10,087 --> 00:11:13,213 And I started singing "Happy Birthday" to him over the phone, 212 00:11:13,382 --> 00:11:15,840 and he started crying. 213 00:11:15,842 --> 00:11:20,637 And I said, "I don't have the plague, it's just mono, I'll be fine." 214 00:11:20,639 --> 00:11:24,015 I said, "I hope you did something special for your birthday." 215 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:26,768 And he said, "Oh, yes, I went down to, to Chung's Restaurant." 216 00:11:26,770 --> 00:11:29,813 Which I hated, it was in a lousy neighborhood. 217 00:11:29,815 --> 00:11:33,817 [narrator] The birthday marks a terrible turning point for Alan. 218 00:11:33,860 --> 00:11:39,072 Soon, Jan will learn that she'd never really knew her husband. 219 00:11:39,074 --> 00:11:42,575 This rich, white psychologist from Grosse Point, 220 00:11:42,652 --> 00:11:44,260 was leading a double life. 221 00:11:45,205 --> 00:11:50,250 He was the kinda guy who wanted to play on the dark side. 222 00:11:50,252 --> 00:11:52,627 [Chang] He wanted the excitement 223 00:11:52,713 --> 00:11:56,297 of hanging out with bikers and prostitutes. 224 00:11:56,374 --> 00:11:58,341 Unfortunately, it, it came up short for him. 225 00:11:58,343 --> 00:12:01,511 It was a chain of events that got out of control. 226 00:12:05,183 --> 00:12:06,516 [narrator] A fully recovered Jan Canty 227 00:12:06,518 --> 00:12:08,893 returns home from Arizona, 228 00:12:08,895 --> 00:12:11,938 but she's noticing odd chang in her husband. 229 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:14,274 He started dressing better. 230 00:12:14,350 --> 00:12:16,693 He'd never taken much interest in his appearance, 231 00:12:16,695 --> 00:12:20,613 and one day he came home in a pretty nice suede jacket. 232 00:12:20,615 --> 00:12:23,199 "What do you think of this? And I'm like, "Whoa! That's really nice." 233 00:12:23,201 --> 00:12:25,493 He never spent any money on his clothes. 234 00:12:25,495 --> 00:12:27,328 He seemed really happy about it. 235 00:12:28,081 --> 00:12:29,897 I was surprised, but... 236 00:12:30,959 --> 00:12:34,210 ...I didn't take it as meaning anything more than what it was, 237 00:12:34,212 --> 00:12:35,670 'cause he's not a ladies man 238 00:12:35,747 --> 00:12:37,881 he's kinda bashful and awkward, 239 00:12:37,924 --> 00:12:40,633 and he was working all the time. 240 00:12:40,635 --> 00:12:42,576 [narrator] Over the next yea 241 00:12:42,578 --> 00:12:45,847 Alan becomes even more withdrawn and focused on his work. 242 00:12:46,850 --> 00:12:49,893 And he'd see the patients in the evening at his home, 243 00:12:49,895 --> 00:12:51,978 and he'd see patients on Saturday, 244 00:12:52,055 --> 00:12:55,857 and then he told her that he was spending his lunch hours 245 00:12:55,934 --> 00:12:59,027 evaluating criminals at the jail. 246 00:12:59,029 --> 00:13:01,571 Then there was no time for me basically. 247 00:13:01,573 --> 00:13:05,658 She thought he was working himself to death and drinking too much coffee, 248 00:13:05,693 --> 00:13:09,746 and was, uh, actually suffering from 249 00:13:09,748 --> 00:13:12,916 some anxiety disorders from all the work he was doing. 250 00:13:12,918 --> 00:13:15,418 [narrator] But Alan refuses to slow down, 251 00:13:15,420 --> 00:13:20,423 and then in April 1984, Jan gets frantic phone call 252 00:13:21,384 --> 00:13:23,426 His mother would call him at work 253 00:13:23,428 --> 00:13:24,844 and he'd pick up and hang up. 254 00:13:25,347 --> 00:13:26,763 He wouldn't talk. 255 00:13:26,807 --> 00:13:29,557 And this happened multiple times within an hour, 256 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,060 so she asked me to go downtown, see what was up. 257 00:13:33,563 --> 00:13:37,106 The office was unlocked, I walked in, all the lights were off. 258 00:13:37,818 --> 00:13:39,526 He was in, sitting in his chair, 259 00:13:39,528 --> 00:13:44,864 mute, and looking like he had a 10,000 mile stare, 260 00:13:45,826 --> 00:13:48,618 and kinda mumbling at times but real soft. 261 00:13:49,204 --> 00:13:51,621 He was saying, "Snow, 262 00:13:52,082 --> 00:13:53,414 I've been bad." 263 00:13:54,668 --> 00:13:57,335 "Am I a good boy, am I standing tall?" 264 00:13:58,129 --> 00:14:00,463 "Birthday, Cass." 265 00:14:00,465 --> 00:14:02,006 Just this jumble. 266 00:14:04,010 --> 00:14:05,635 I couldn't make heads or tails of it. 267 00:14:05,637 --> 00:14:08,263 I don't even he recognized I was in front of him. 268 00:14:08,265 --> 00:14:10,598 And I'm like, "What the heck?" 269 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,017 So I called my mentor at the medical center, 270 00:14:13,019 --> 00:14:15,270 which was very close, maybe 10 minutes away, 271 00:14:15,272 --> 00:14:17,313 and I asked him if could bring Alan, 272 00:14:17,315 --> 00:14:19,340 and I said, "I don't know what's going on." 273 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,736 It was like leading out a mannequin, he was, just came with me. 274 00:14:24,656 --> 00:14:26,422 They did some blood work, 275 00:14:26,424 --> 00:14:30,118 and agreed with me he was having a psychotic break. 276 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,998 I mean, we've been together 10 years, almost 11 at that point. 277 00:14:36,334 --> 00:14:38,418 I had never seen him like that. 278 00:14:38,420 --> 00:14:40,211 I hadn't ever seen anybody like that. 279 00:14:44,259 --> 00:14:45,842 [narrator] Alan is hospitalized 280 00:14:45,844 --> 00:14:48,344 at the University of Michiga in Ann Arbor. 281 00:14:49,973 --> 00:14:52,140 She wanted him to slow down. 282 00:14:52,142 --> 00:14:54,642 And so when he did have that psychotic break, 283 00:14:54,644 --> 00:14:57,729 it was easy for her to attribute that 284 00:14:57,805 --> 00:15:00,565 to the fact that he had been working so hard 285 00:15:02,444 --> 00:15:04,444 [narrator] But as Jan digs deeper, 286 00:15:04,446 --> 00:15:05,945 she starts uncovering thing 287 00:15:06,022 --> 00:15:08,448 that are not so easy to explain. 288 00:15:09,451 --> 00:15:12,785 I found out that the admitting psychiatrist and his mother 289 00:15:12,862 --> 00:15:15,163 talked separately without me around, 290 00:15:15,239 --> 00:15:19,626 and he had been hospitalized twice before, psychiatrically. 291 00:15:20,837 --> 00:15:24,422 One occurred while he was in basic training, 292 00:15:24,424 --> 00:15:27,008 he couldn't take the military life, so to speak. 293 00:15:28,553 --> 00:15:31,554 The next time was at the tim of his divorce. 294 00:15:32,349 --> 00:15:34,490 I was angry. 295 00:15:34,492 --> 00:15:37,185 I wouldn't have thought les of the family or her or him or anybody. 296 00:15:37,187 --> 00:15:39,729 It's just information that was critically important. 297 00:15:41,524 --> 00:15:43,274 [narrator] Alan's previous breakdowns had been 298 00:15:43,351 --> 00:15:45,735 triggered by major life events, 299 00:15:45,737 --> 00:15:48,947 prompting Jan to question the cause of this one. 300 00:15:53,870 --> 00:15:55,411 [Jan] So I made it a project of mine 301 00:15:55,413 --> 00:15:57,789 to go to his office and to straighten it up. 302 00:15:57,865 --> 00:16:01,876 I found a receipt with my forged name 303 00:16:01,878 --> 00:16:06,130 on an account paying rent for some person I had never heard of. 304 00:16:06,207 --> 00:16:08,049 Then I found unpaid bills. 305 00:16:08,051 --> 00:16:11,177 Handfuls of unpaid bills. 306 00:16:11,179 --> 00:16:12,720 And I'm like, "He's working night and day 307 00:16:12,722 --> 00:16:14,555 there shouldn't be any unpaid bills." 308 00:16:14,557 --> 00:16:18,059 I totaled it up, and it came to $6,000, 309 00:16:18,061 --> 00:16:20,812 which is in 1985 dollars, 310 00:16:20,814 --> 00:16:23,606 so I got the bills organized 311 00:16:23,608 --> 00:16:26,484 and paid for with the help of his mother, 312 00:16:26,486 --> 00:16:28,820 and then I decided to clean up his office. 313 00:16:28,822 --> 00:16:31,155 I went to his appointment book, 314 00:16:31,157 --> 00:16:34,701 and he had all these names that he's written in. 315 00:16:34,777 --> 00:16:36,411 Sometimes five times a day. 316 00:16:36,413 --> 00:16:38,871 One o'clock, three o'clock, it'd be the same name. 317 00:16:38,873 --> 00:16:41,207 They were made up, it was silly names, 318 00:16:41,209 --> 00:16:44,794 like, Peter Pan and Willy the Goose and-- 319 00:16:46,047 --> 00:16:48,172 I'm like-- And it was his handwriting. 320 00:16:48,174 --> 00:16:50,717 That was the turning point. 321 00:16:50,793 --> 00:16:54,721 I felt cut of at the knees, I felt I had been overwhelme 322 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,932 I didn't know that it was gonna get worse. 323 00:17:00,270 --> 00:17:02,895 [narrator] After six weeks of uncovering evidence 324 00:17:02,897 --> 00:17:05,648 that suggests Alan is suffering from mental illness, 325 00:17:05,650 --> 00:17:08,609 Jan picks her husband up from the hospital. 326 00:17:09,529 --> 00:17:10,945 [Jan] He was real quite. 327 00:17:11,781 --> 00:17:13,364 And he says, "What have you done 328 00:17:13,366 --> 00:17:15,616 or what have you been doing since I left?" 329 00:17:15,693 --> 00:17:18,619 And I told him I started cleaning up his office. 330 00:17:18,621 --> 00:17:21,456 I wasn't ready yet to get into what I'd found. 331 00:17:21,532 --> 00:17:23,332 "What do you mean, you're cleaning up the office?" 332 00:17:23,334 --> 00:17:25,293 I said, "It was a pigsty." 333 00:17:25,295 --> 00:17:27,795 I said I went through the paper-- Oh, he was not happy, 334 00:17:27,797 --> 00:17:30,131 I didn't even get to finish the sentence. 335 00:17:30,208 --> 00:17:33,051 He was incensed, he wouldn't talk the rest of the way. 336 00:17:35,972 --> 00:17:37,296 We didn't talk that night. 337 00:17:37,298 --> 00:17:40,224 There's more going on here that I can't figure out. 338 00:17:41,394 --> 00:17:44,520 But never in a million years did I imagine what would happen. 339 00:17:46,191 --> 00:17:48,900 Last time I saw him was July 13th. 340 00:17:49,778 --> 00:17:52,403 He left, and I didn't say anything to him. 341 00:17:53,531 --> 00:17:55,031 [Cauffiel] When he left in the morning, 342 00:17:55,075 --> 00:17:56,949 he was dressed a little different, 343 00:17:57,026 --> 00:17:59,160 he looked like a person 344 00:17:59,162 --> 00:18:02,497 that was determined and sur as, as to what he was doing 345 00:18:03,458 --> 00:18:05,083 [Jan] That day was awful, 346 00:18:05,159 --> 00:18:09,462 high winds, rain, hail, slee in the middle of summer. 347 00:18:09,464 --> 00:18:13,049 I was watching Live Aid, which is a three hour special, 348 00:18:13,468 --> 00:18:14,984 so I lost track of time, 349 00:18:14,986 --> 00:18:17,261 and I look up, and all of a sudden it's, like, 350 00:18:17,263 --> 00:18:21,099 he's way overdue, he was never one to be late. 351 00:18:21,810 --> 00:18:22,725 I'm like, "That's odd." 352 00:18:22,727 --> 00:18:24,751 [telephone ringing] 353 00:18:24,829 --> 00:18:27,730 So I called his office, his answering service said they had no information. 354 00:18:29,067 --> 00:18:32,318 And, um, there's no cellphones in this time, 355 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:33,361 so I couldn't reach him that way. 356 00:18:33,363 --> 00:18:36,197 I was frantic. 357 00:18:36,274 --> 00:18:39,700 The storm was raging, there was lightening, it was awful outside. 358 00:18:40,662 --> 00:18:42,620 And I walked into his home office, 359 00:18:43,915 --> 00:18:45,123 I looked in the mirror, 360 00:18:47,127 --> 00:18:48,626 and I said out loud, 361 00:18:49,254 --> 00:18:50,795 "He's not coming home." 362 00:18:51,798 --> 00:18:55,341 I finally, very reluctantly, called my neighbor next door, 363 00:18:55,418 --> 00:18:57,635 and I said, "Jim, could you take me down to his office? 364 00:18:57,712 --> 00:18:59,262 He hasn't come home." 365 00:18:59,264 --> 00:19:02,557 Al wasn't there, and he had signed out at 6:3 366 00:19:04,352 --> 00:19:06,460 [narrator] Alan is missing. 367 00:19:06,462 --> 00:19:10,398 Soon his absence will become the subject of macabre speculation. 368 00:19:11,568 --> 00:19:13,776 [Chang] I got a call from a source, 369 00:19:13,778 --> 00:19:16,946 and the source said, go to this address. 370 00:19:16,948 --> 00:19:20,741 And it turned out to be 2518, Casper Street, in the Cass Corridor. 371 00:19:20,818 --> 00:19:22,910 It was as if I'd walked into a movie set. 372 00:19:23,788 --> 00:19:25,746 You realize it's not like the movies. 373 00:19:25,823 --> 00:19:27,373 They were arrested by a next door neighbor. 374 00:19:27,375 --> 00:19:28,916 Someone was murdered here. 375 00:19:33,214 --> 00:19:35,673 [narrator] Alone in her Grosse Point home, 376 00:19:35,675 --> 00:19:39,886 Jan Canty still has no idea where Alan is gone. 377 00:19:39,888 --> 00:19:41,921 [Jan] I didn't sleep that night. 378 00:19:41,997 --> 00:19:45,224 The next morning, I went down to the police to report him missing. 379 00:19:45,301 --> 00:19:48,603 And so they took a report, nothing happened, nothing came of it. 380 00:19:48,605 --> 00:19:50,521 Oh, I called his mom and told her, 381 00:19:50,523 --> 00:19:53,107 and she, of course, was understandably frightened and frantic. 382 00:19:53,193 --> 00:19:55,584 And I told her, 383 00:19:55,586 --> 00:19:58,196 "If you have any connection in the police department, would you call somebody? 384 00:19:58,198 --> 00:20:00,198 'Cause I can't get them to do much." 385 00:20:00,867 --> 00:20:02,925 She said, "I'm on it." 386 00:20:02,927 --> 00:20:05,077 [narrator] The political connections held by the Canty Family 387 00:20:05,154 --> 00:20:07,596 trigger a quick police response. 388 00:20:09,834 --> 00:20:13,586 [Osowski] The very first da of the investigation, I went to the Fisher Buildin 389 00:20:13,663 --> 00:20:17,256 and I'm saying to myself, "If a person is overworked as he is, 390 00:20:17,258 --> 00:20:19,842 how does he relax if he's not home, 391 00:20:19,844 --> 00:20:21,761 if he's always working?" 392 00:20:21,837 --> 00:20:24,847 A person must find something to unwind with. 393 00:20:26,267 --> 00:20:27,975 And I happened to look outside, 394 00:20:27,977 --> 00:20:29,936 and I saw that Second's Aven 395 00:20:30,012 --> 00:20:33,648 and it was going south, goes right towards the Cass Corridor. 396 00:20:33,650 --> 00:20:35,399 And I said to myself, "Well, it wouldn't hurt 397 00:20:35,476 --> 00:20:38,069 to go down and see if there's a guy that fits 398 00:20:38,145 --> 00:20:40,696 the description, a john in the neighborhood. 399 00:20:41,908 --> 00:20:45,618 Detroit's the most stratified city 400 00:20:45,695 --> 00:20:47,662 that you'll find anywhere in America. 401 00:20:47,664 --> 00:20:50,665 Back in the early 80s, it still is. 402 00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:53,417 The very bottom even beyond poverty, 403 00:20:53,494 --> 00:20:55,795 'cause you mix poverty and criminality, 404 00:20:56,172 --> 00:20:58,089 was the Cass Corridor. 405 00:20:58,091 --> 00:21:01,717 This sort of no man's land where there's a lot of empty lots, 406 00:21:02,470 --> 00:21:06,430 skid row hotels, tenement housing, 407 00:21:06,432 --> 00:21:09,058 hookers on the street, dope fiends, 408 00:21:11,437 --> 00:21:14,313 [Osowski] So, I went over there. 409 00:21:14,390 --> 00:21:18,317 and I was very fortunate that I ran into a couple of my informants. 410 00:21:18,736 --> 00:21:20,569 One of them was Suzie Q. 411 00:21:20,571 --> 00:21:23,030 Since I didn't have a pictur of Dr. Canty At that time, 412 00:21:23,032 --> 00:21:25,157 I just had a description of the car. 413 00:21:25,159 --> 00:21:27,743 She says, "There's a guy that's driving around 414 00:21:27,787 --> 00:21:29,537 and when he saw us, he would always ask, 415 00:21:29,539 --> 00:21:31,080 "Have you see Dawn? Have you seen Dawn?'" 416 00:21:31,124 --> 00:21:33,624 I says, "Dawn, Dawn who?" and she says, "Dawn Spens." 417 00:21:36,337 --> 00:21:40,006 Suzie Q told me that John Fr was Dawn's pimp. 418 00:21:40,633 --> 00:21:42,341 So I says, "Where can I find John?" 419 00:21:42,343 --> 00:21:44,093 She says, "They live on Casper." 420 00:21:44,095 --> 00:21:46,512 "Just a few blocks from here She says, "Yeah." 421 00:21:46,589 --> 00:21:50,808 She says, "I want you to be very careful, John's very violent." 422 00:21:50,810 --> 00:21:52,560 And I said, "Well, does he carry a gun?" 423 00:21:52,562 --> 00:21:54,812 And she says, "He doesn't need a gun." 424 00:21:57,900 --> 00:22:01,610 [Cauffiel] John "Lucky" Fry was kind of a funny guy, actually. 425 00:22:01,654 --> 00:22:03,863 Charming, like a lot of psychopaths are. 426 00:22:03,865 --> 00:22:06,615 Also, seemingly very fearles 427 00:22:06,659 --> 00:22:09,368 [Osowski] He had, uh, a small stable of young ladies 428 00:22:09,370 --> 00:22:12,330 that eventually, uh, dwindled down to one person, 429 00:22:12,832 --> 00:22:14,874 which was Dawn Spens. 430 00:22:14,876 --> 00:22:18,169 [Cauffiel] Dawn was horribly addicted to drugs, to opiates. 431 00:22:18,171 --> 00:22:23,215 She seemed to have the kind of eyes that said, "Help me." 432 00:22:23,217 --> 00:22:26,552 In the context with Al, of the guy who needs to be needed, 433 00:22:26,554 --> 00:22:30,181 she was the perfect match for that. 434 00:22:30,257 --> 00:22:36,354 [narrator] The next day, Detective Osowski's informan calls him with startling new 435 00:22:36,356 --> 00:22:38,314 [Osowski] She said, "I hear on the street that maybe 436 00:22:38,316 --> 00:22:42,485 Dr. Canty's car was toasted already, which means arson. 437 00:22:42,487 --> 00:22:46,030 Somebody tried to get rid of his car for a reason. 438 00:22:46,032 --> 00:22:50,159 The reason is simply that I think that something bad had happened to Dr. Canty. 439 00:22:50,203 --> 00:22:52,912 [newscaster] There's still a lot of unknowns in this case. 440 00:22:52,914 --> 00:22:55,706 For example, police still aren't sure exactly what happened 441 00:22:55,783 --> 00:22:58,542 after Canty left his downtown Detroit office. 442 00:22:58,619 --> 00:23:01,629 [Jan] It was not long after that the news starting breaking. 443 00:23:01,631 --> 00:23:04,298 And I refused to watch it. 444 00:23:08,096 --> 00:23:11,263 [narrator] Police get a search warrant for the Casper Street location 445 00:23:11,265 --> 00:23:13,432 where John Fry and Dawn Spens live, 446 00:23:13,509 --> 00:23:16,602 and find evidence pointing to a crime scene. 447 00:23:16,604 --> 00:23:18,521 After they process the location, 448 00:23:18,523 --> 00:23:22,358 reporter Ti-Hua Chang gets a tip about the case. 449 00:23:24,153 --> 00:23:27,071 [Chang] Thursday, July 18, I was in the newsroom 450 00:23:27,073 --> 00:23:30,491 and I got a call from a source within the Detroit City Government. 451 00:23:30,568 --> 00:23:33,661 And the source said, "Go to this address." 452 00:23:33,663 --> 00:23:37,706 And it turned out to be 2518 Casper Street in the Cass Corridor. 453 00:23:37,750 --> 00:23:40,209 "The house is still open, but you gotta get there soon 454 00:23:40,211 --> 00:23:41,752 otherwise the police are gonna close it up." 455 00:23:41,754 --> 00:23:43,003 So, I ran to the assignment desk 456 00:23:43,005 --> 00:23:44,571 and I said, "Give me a crew, now." 457 00:23:46,676 --> 00:23:49,218 I went to the back door, the back door was open. 458 00:23:49,929 --> 00:23:53,514 And it was a surreal scene. 459 00:23:53,516 --> 00:23:56,350 I felt as if I'd walked onto the movie set. 460 00:23:56,352 --> 00:23:58,811 Except a more realistic movie set. 461 00:23:58,813 --> 00:24:01,605 The house was a mess. Beat up old couch. 462 00:24:02,567 --> 00:24:04,483 And then I saw a blood trail 463 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,028 from the bedroom that went all the way to the bathroom 464 00:24:08,406 --> 00:24:10,739 Then I see blood in the bathtub. 465 00:24:10,741 --> 00:24:14,285 Little specs of blood, 'cause it had, someone had apparently tried to wash it. 466 00:24:14,287 --> 00:24:15,703 And there was a search warrant. 467 00:24:15,705 --> 00:24:18,831 It had all the basics of the story. 468 00:24:18,949 --> 00:24:21,292 The missing psychologist, Dr. Alan Canty, 469 00:24:21,294 --> 00:24:24,044 the suspect they were looking for, John Fry, 470 00:24:24,121 --> 00:24:26,589 and a prostitute named Dawn Spens. 471 00:24:26,591 --> 00:24:28,340 All that was on the search warrant. 472 00:24:34,432 --> 00:24:38,642 So, he was missing and there was worry that there was foul play, 473 00:24:38,644 --> 00:24:41,979 but there's no ransom that's been issued. 474 00:24:41,981 --> 00:24:45,524 It unnerved me, I felt scared. 475 00:24:45,526 --> 00:24:48,360 And I got a call from Officer Landeros. 476 00:24:48,437 --> 00:24:52,406 She asked me to meet her down at police headquarters. 477 00:24:52,483 --> 00:24:56,535 So, we get up there and we got off on Floor 5 and it says, "Homicide." 478 00:24:56,537 --> 00:24:58,370 This is becoming very real. 479 00:24:58,372 --> 00:25:02,291 [narrator] Waiting for them is inspector Gil Hill. 480 00:25:02,293 --> 00:25:06,378 So, I went into, with my parents, to the waiting room 481 00:25:06,455 --> 00:25:11,675 to meet with Gil Hill and he's just like he was in Beverly Hills Cop. 482 00:25:11,752 --> 00:25:14,470 He played Eddie Murphy's bos Inspector Todd. 483 00:25:14,472 --> 00:25:18,807 He sat me down and he started asking questions which made no sense to me. 484 00:25:18,851 --> 00:25:21,602 He asked, "Have you felt followed lately?" 485 00:25:21,604 --> 00:25:24,563 I had been followed twice coming home from work. 486 00:25:24,565 --> 00:25:28,025 He also asked me, "How's your finances?" And I'm like... 487 00:25:29,403 --> 00:25:31,153 Has he been listening in our kitchen window? 488 00:25:31,155 --> 00:25:34,406 And I said, "Matter of fact, yes." 489 00:25:34,483 --> 00:25:36,534 I said, "I can't get him to open up about it." 490 00:25:36,536 --> 00:25:40,829 And he's, why? What does this got to do with my missing husband? 491 00:25:40,831 --> 00:25:44,375 He said, "We know he's been seen multiple time 492 00:25:44,451 --> 00:25:48,295 on Casper Street handing out lots of money." 493 00:25:49,173 --> 00:25:50,923 I didn't even know where Casper Street was. 494 00:25:53,010 --> 00:25:57,429 "And he's been seen in the company of a pimp and a prostitute." 495 00:25:57,506 --> 00:26:00,099 I'm like, "He's got the wrong guy." 496 00:26:00,601 --> 00:26:02,059 That doesn't make any sense. 497 00:26:09,277 --> 00:26:12,403 So, by the time we get home my dad is frantic. 498 00:26:13,239 --> 00:26:15,406 And I had never seen him like that. 499 00:26:15,741 --> 00:26:18,617 He's a very Steady Eddie guy. 500 00:26:18,694 --> 00:26:22,288 He went into action. He said, "We don't know what's going on, 501 00:26:22,290 --> 00:26:24,373 so you and your mom are gonna sleep upstairs, 502 00:26:24,417 --> 00:26:26,750 I'm gonna sleep downstairs with the dog." 503 00:26:26,827 --> 00:26:29,003 And I said, "Dad, you're scaring me." 504 00:26:29,005 --> 00:26:31,130 And he goes, "I'm scared." 505 00:26:32,216 --> 00:26:34,091 [newscaster] And tonight, reporter Ti-Hua Chang 506 00:26:34,093 --> 00:26:36,510 has exclusive details on allegations 507 00:26:36,512 --> 00:26:40,306 that Dr. Canty led a double life that ended in violence. 508 00:26:41,309 --> 00:26:44,768 [Chang] We waited till 6 o'clock to break the story 509 00:26:44,845 --> 00:26:47,146 'cause we had a bigger audience at 6 o'clock. 510 00:26:47,148 --> 00:26:49,648 [newscaster] And now police are releasing photographs of the pair. 511 00:26:49,650 --> 00:26:53,944 Detectives believe this man John Fry, probably killed Dr. Canty. 512 00:26:54,021 --> 00:26:56,572 He was reportedly sworn he won't be taken alive. 513 00:26:56,616 --> 00:26:58,657 His companion, Dawn Spens, 514 00:26:58,659 --> 00:27:01,452 described by authorities as a known drug addict and prostitute. 515 00:27:01,454 --> 00:27:04,163 Heavy blood stains were foun in their home yesterday. 516 00:27:04,239 --> 00:27:06,874 It's believed to be where Dr. Canty was killed. 517 00:27:06,876 --> 00:27:09,543 My dad said, "I know it frightens you, 518 00:27:10,504 --> 00:27:12,713 but information is power." 519 00:27:12,715 --> 00:27:14,923 "I want you to know what John Fry looks like. 520 00:27:14,967 --> 00:27:17,117 I want you to know what Dawn looks like. 521 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:22,514 'Cause if you ever see them, you call 911 and then you call me, in that order." 522 00:27:22,516 --> 00:27:24,642 I was so tired and I was so frightened. 523 00:27:24,802 --> 00:27:26,960 I was numb. 524 00:27:31,817 --> 00:27:35,444 [narrator reading] Six days after Dr. Alan Canty is reported missing, 525 00:27:35,446 --> 00:27:38,197 lead investigator Marlyss Landeros 526 00:27:38,199 --> 00:27:43,160 gets a surprise visit from an informant named Frank McMaster. 527 00:27:43,162 --> 00:27:46,538 Frank McMaster. was this trucker up in Northern Michigan 528 00:27:46,615 --> 00:27:48,457 who knows John "Lucky" Fry 529 00:27:48,459 --> 00:27:50,417 and he and Dawn come in and says, 530 00:27:50,419 --> 00:27:52,294 "Frank, I gotta get rid of something." 531 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,005 "I was cutting these bad checks, 532 00:27:55,007 --> 00:27:57,383 and there's some evidence I gotta get rid of. 533 00:27:57,459 --> 00:27:58,825 Is there some place we can go?" 534 00:28:01,430 --> 00:28:03,722 So, they got back on this old logging trail 535 00:28:03,724 --> 00:28:06,642 and, uh, Lucky's got this, this bag. 536 00:28:06,644 --> 00:28:08,811 Lucky admits to Frank. He says, "You know, 537 00:28:08,813 --> 00:28:10,854 I, I killed somebody last night." 538 00:28:13,526 --> 00:28:17,611 So, because Lucky was always bragging about, "I killed somebody, I did this." 539 00:28:17,688 --> 00:28:19,029 You know, he had all these big stories all the time. 540 00:28:19,031 --> 00:28:21,514 He doesn't believe him. 541 00:28:21,516 --> 00:28:24,410 But he's got this bag and he still thinking there's, like, bad cheques in there. 542 00:28:25,371 --> 00:28:28,038 And Frank digs this hole and Lucky takes the bag 543 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,916 and drops it in the hole and goes, "Bye-bye, Al." 544 00:28:34,463 --> 00:28:39,425 [narrator] Investigators hea to Northern Michigan to check out the bizarre story 545 00:28:39,460 --> 00:28:43,595 Less than 24 hours later, Jan is called down to the morgue. 546 00:28:44,932 --> 00:28:48,350 [Jan] So, we got to the morgue and it [scoffs] reeked in there. 547 00:28:49,061 --> 00:28:50,894 And then we walk into the chamber, 548 00:28:51,689 --> 00:28:54,273 and I close my eyes. 549 00:28:54,275 --> 00:28:57,693 My dad on one side, Detective Landeros is on the other side. 550 00:28:57,737 --> 00:28:59,987 And so I open my eyes and I saw what I saw. 551 00:28:59,989 --> 00:29:01,029 [gasps] 552 00:29:01,031 --> 00:29:02,364 [Jan] A head. 553 00:29:02,408 --> 00:29:03,323 His head. 554 00:29:03,909 --> 00:29:05,058 On a table. 555 00:29:05,578 --> 00:29:07,453 With a sheet wrapped around its neck. 556 00:29:08,706 --> 00:29:11,123 I thought I was gonna heave at that point. 557 00:29:13,002 --> 00:29:15,544 And we walked to the, towards the front exit. 558 00:29:16,297 --> 00:29:18,172 And like I said, I was kinda out of it, 559 00:29:18,248 --> 00:29:22,217 and I saw these herd of reporters outside the door. 560 00:29:22,261 --> 00:29:24,470 But Officer Landeros was on top of it 561 00:29:24,472 --> 00:29:26,638 and she twisted me around and we went out the back 562 00:29:26,715 --> 00:29:30,392 and she had me lay down in her squat car and we went out that way. 563 00:29:30,394 --> 00:29:33,061 But that was just the beginning of my nightmare with the media. 564 00:29:34,231 --> 00:29:37,107 When Al was missing, 565 00:29:37,184 --> 00:29:40,944 the reporters, the media, the daily media was your friend. 566 00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:45,657 You wanted to get the word out, the police did, uh, her family did. 567 00:29:45,659 --> 00:29:49,036 But once the missing loved one is found, 568 00:29:49,038 --> 00:29:54,875 and if they happen to be murdered in a very strange situation as her husband was 569 00:29:54,952 --> 00:29:58,796 now suddenly, the media is an inquisitor. 570 00:30:01,592 --> 00:30:04,843 [Jan] I went through the funeral like a robot. 571 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,765 And the media showed up and intruded to the point where arguments broke out. 572 00:30:09,809 --> 00:30:11,975 Calling 'em bastards, and get outta here. 573 00:30:11,977 --> 00:30:13,435 [scoffs] Oh, my. 574 00:30:13,771 --> 00:30:16,438 Whose life did I step into? 575 00:30:16,482 --> 00:30:21,401 [narrator] Early on the morning of July 22, there's a break in the case 576 00:30:21,478 --> 00:30:23,695 [Chang] Fry and Spens were arrested just after midnight 577 00:30:23,697 --> 00:30:25,781 in front of this house in Northwest Detroit. 578 00:30:25,783 --> 00:30:27,491 Fry's aunt lives here. 579 00:30:27,493 --> 00:30:29,910 They were arrested by a next-door neighbor, who's a policeman. 580 00:30:29,995 --> 00:30:32,037 Sergeant Ray Brewer says a neighborhood resident 581 00:30:32,039 --> 00:30:34,289 recognized Fry from the media reports 582 00:30:34,291 --> 00:30:36,875 and told the policeman Fry was on their block. 583 00:30:36,877 --> 00:30:38,210 And at that time, I pulled my revolver 584 00:30:38,212 --> 00:30:40,228 and told him that he'd have to stay there. 585 00:30:40,230 --> 00:30:42,589 And when I would allow him to move around, he wasn't giving no resistance 586 00:30:42,591 --> 00:30:44,099 that if he was trying to run or anything, 587 00:30:44,101 --> 00:30:46,134 like he was just about ready to give up, that's all. 588 00:30:46,178 --> 00:30:48,595 [Chang] A grim-faced John Fr walked to court this afternoon 589 00:30:48,672 --> 00:30:50,556 to be charged with the first degree murder 590 00:30:50,632 --> 00:30:53,517 of Grosse Pointe Park psychologist Alan Canty. 591 00:30:53,594 --> 00:30:55,310 It was all over the news at that point. 592 00:30:55,312 --> 00:30:56,928 I could not escape. 593 00:30:57,982 --> 00:31:01,608 I had nightmares for a long time, very vivid nightmares. 594 00:31:01,610 --> 00:31:04,444 I thought, it could have been worse, I could have died along with him. 595 00:31:04,521 --> 00:31:06,738 Because Fry knew where we lived. 596 00:31:06,815 --> 00:31:10,951 [narrator] Lucky Fry's tria is held on December 3, 1985 597 00:31:10,953 --> 00:31:15,873 but a mentally exhausted Ja chooses not to attend. 598 00:31:15,949 --> 00:31:22,337 It was probably one of the most crowded trials I've ever been to in Detroit. 599 00:31:22,339 --> 00:31:25,257 The courtroom was packed and, and you had to get there early 600 00:31:25,259 --> 00:31:27,342 otherwise you wouldn't get a good seat. 601 00:31:27,344 --> 00:31:30,762 So the reporters, you know, all lined up early and... 602 00:31:30,764 --> 00:31:34,558 To make sure that we could get close enough to see the, uh, defendants. 603 00:31:36,478 --> 00:31:38,544 I got in the front row. 604 00:31:38,546 --> 00:31:42,065 And I was able to, you know get a close-up look at Dawn Spens. 605 00:31:42,067 --> 00:31:45,277 I saw her lips, they were moist and pouty 606 00:31:45,279 --> 00:31:48,488 and actually quivering a little bit in court. 607 00:31:48,490 --> 00:31:54,036 And I could imagine how Dr. Canty, when he saw her and met her, 608 00:31:54,038 --> 00:31:57,414 you know, would have seen that, and would have been obsessed with her. 609 00:31:57,491 --> 00:32:00,208 [Cauffiel] She's much better looking than many of the prostitutes 610 00:32:00,210 --> 00:32:04,046 in that area who are badly addicted to drugs. 611 00:32:04,089 --> 00:32:06,381 She's fresh, you know, she's young. 612 00:32:06,383 --> 00:32:10,218 [Chang] Dawn Spens had this wounded bird quality. 613 00:32:11,138 --> 00:32:13,305 It's more than just a damsel in distress. 614 00:32:13,382 --> 00:32:16,099 It's more like a siren in distress. 615 00:32:18,312 --> 00:32:20,604 [narrator] As the trial moves forward, 616 00:32:20,606 --> 00:32:25,317 the extent of Alan's obsessi with the young prostitute becomes clear. 617 00:32:25,319 --> 00:32:30,030 He paid regular visits to Dawn Spens for over a year and a half. 618 00:32:30,032 --> 00:32:32,157 He was a respected psychologist, 619 00:32:32,159 --> 00:32:35,118 you know, working in Detroit, living in the suburbs, 620 00:32:35,195 --> 00:32:37,788 while he was actually spending most of his time 621 00:32:37,864 --> 00:32:41,541 in the Cass Corridor, feeding drugs to a young prostitute and her pimp. 622 00:32:41,543 --> 00:32:44,920 I think he got well over his head with all the money 623 00:32:44,964 --> 00:32:49,633 that he had, that supported Dawn Spens with over the time that he knew her. 624 00:32:49,635 --> 00:32:53,136 She knew how to play Al, you know, she knew how to play him for money. 625 00:32:53,138 --> 00:32:55,347 She was very much in love with John "Lucky" Fry, 626 00:32:55,349 --> 00:32:59,518 because he was almost like a father figure, a protector for her. 627 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,605 But while he was in the middle of his addiction, 628 00:33:03,607 --> 00:33:05,832 they needed to have that money. 629 00:33:05,834 --> 00:33:10,612 And so, he was always looking for possible ways to get money from Al. 630 00:33:10,614 --> 00:33:14,032 Al was the, the golden goose that laid the golden eff. 631 00:33:14,109 --> 00:33:17,369 The question that has puzzled police from the outset of the investigation, 632 00:33:17,446 --> 00:33:22,040 is why would Spens and Fry kill the man who, reportedly, over the last year and half 633 00:33:22,042 --> 00:33:26,003 had given them as much as $150,000 for what police describe as 634 00:33:26,005 --> 00:33:28,672 a social relationship that included sexual favors? 635 00:33:28,749 --> 00:33:33,093 "Why," one policeman asked, "Why would they kill the goose that laid the golden egg?" 636 00:33:36,348 --> 00:33:38,557 In Grosse Pointe, he's Alan Canty, 637 00:33:38,633 --> 00:33:40,892 but then he goes into the inner city of Detroit, 638 00:33:40,894 --> 00:33:44,771 and he's Dr. Al Miller and he's copping drugs for her, 639 00:33:44,773 --> 00:33:49,693 he's, he's become as dark as they are, in a sense, you know, morally dark. 640 00:33:49,695 --> 00:33:52,112 [Osowski] It's, it's, very easy to integrate 641 00:33:52,114 --> 00:33:57,075 into this, uh, subculture in, uh, Cass Corridor, but it's so hard to get out. 642 00:33:57,152 --> 00:34:02,205 And I really think that Dr. Canty got in over his head 643 00:34:02,282 --> 00:34:05,542 and as he's trying to control, he was being controlled. 644 00:34:05,619 --> 00:34:08,045 [narrator] Dawn has become an addiction for Alan, 645 00:34:08,047 --> 00:34:10,839 even though he hasn't been using drugs himself, 646 00:34:10,841 --> 00:34:14,342 he's drained his bank accoun to fund her habit. 647 00:34:14,344 --> 00:34:19,181 His plan that evening was that was going to be the last night. 648 00:34:19,183 --> 00:34:21,141 That he wasn't going to see them anymore. 649 00:34:22,394 --> 00:34:25,270 Meanwhile, Lucky Fry's got another plan going. 650 00:34:25,272 --> 00:34:31,651 And that is, "Okay, Al, you're gonna give me 5,000, 10,000, 20,000." 651 00:34:31,653 --> 00:34:34,946 We're not quite sure what the amount was. 652 00:34:34,948 --> 00:34:39,117 "And I'm going to leave Dawn to you 653 00:34:39,194 --> 00:34:43,872 and I get that and a plane ticket to Venice, California to live. 654 00:34:43,874 --> 00:34:46,583 So, Al leaves the Fisher Building at 6:35 655 00:34:46,660 --> 00:34:49,961 and he goes over to see Dawn and Lucky 656 00:34:49,963 --> 00:34:54,466 on the Southwest side, the bungalow on Casper. 657 00:34:54,468 --> 00:35:00,847 And Dawn wants drugs, so he buys drugs for her. 658 00:35:02,392 --> 00:35:07,604 According to Lucky, he came home and saw what was going 659 00:35:07,606 --> 00:35:10,941 and he said, "Can't you see we're trying to get clean? 660 00:35:10,943 --> 00:35:13,443 And now you're buying her more drugs?" 661 00:35:13,445 --> 00:35:19,199 And Al said, "It's my money, I don't have to justify anything I do to you." 662 00:35:19,276 --> 00:35:22,369 And pushed him out of the way. 663 00:35:22,445 --> 00:35:24,287 Nobody laid hands on Lucky Fry. 664 00:35:24,289 --> 00:35:28,834 If you laid hands on him, he would explode into a rage. 665 00:35:28,910 --> 00:35:31,545 John picked up the baseball bat that happened to be there 666 00:35:31,547 --> 00:35:32,337 and hit him on the head. 667 00:35:32,339 --> 00:35:34,172 [gasps] 668 00:35:34,249 --> 00:35:37,592 And even after Al fell down he screamed at him, 669 00:35:37,636 --> 00:35:39,845 "Get up mother [bleep], get up." 670 00:35:43,892 --> 00:35:46,601 [narrator] At a crowded courthouse in Detroit, 671 00:35:46,603 --> 00:35:51,148 the story of Dr. Alan Canty' downfall and demise is being revealed. 672 00:35:51,183 --> 00:35:56,111 The most shocking testimony comes from the killer himsel 673 00:35:56,113 --> 00:35:58,697 [Chang] Probably the thing I remember the most about the trial, 674 00:35:59,533 --> 00:36:02,534 was when John Fry took the stand. 675 00:36:02,611 --> 00:36:06,121 The first question his defense attorney asked him was, 676 00:36:06,123 --> 00:36:08,665 "Did you kill Dr. Canty?" 677 00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:13,170 "Yes." "Did you cut off the head of Dr. Canty?" 678 00:36:13,172 --> 00:36:16,089 "Yes." Fry should have stopped right there. 679 00:36:16,166 --> 00:36:17,924 But right after that, 680 00:36:18,677 --> 00:36:21,303 with a little smirk on his face, 681 00:36:21,305 --> 00:36:25,140 John Fry said, "Yeah, I used that Ginsu knife. 682 00:36:25,142 --> 00:36:28,560 You know, the one where you buy one, get two for free." 683 00:36:28,562 --> 00:36:34,024 And when he said it, it was so cavalier and cold. 684 00:36:34,026 --> 00:36:37,235 Here's a guy that cut off the head of somebody 685 00:36:37,237 --> 00:36:41,489 and all he can remember or add is that it's funny, 686 00:36:41,533 --> 00:36:44,326 "I used a Ginsu knife like in the TV commercial." 687 00:36:47,998 --> 00:36:49,864 [Cauffiel] Lucky doesn't wanna get any blood on his clothes 688 00:36:49,866 --> 00:36:55,545 and he ends up naked in the bathtub with Al and dismembers him. 689 00:36:55,547 --> 00:36:59,049 He puts him in garbage bags they get in the car, 690 00:36:59,051 --> 00:37:00,967 and they head to Northern Michigan, 691 00:37:00,969 --> 00:37:03,428 where Lucky's former girlfriend is living 692 00:37:03,430 --> 00:37:05,847 with, uh, this guy, Frank McMaster. 693 00:37:09,311 --> 00:37:12,229 [narrator] At the end of Fry trial on December 11, 694 00:37:12,231 --> 00:37:17,359 it takes the all-female jur less than two hours to decide his fate. 695 00:37:18,111 --> 00:37:20,528 51-year-old John Fry was found guilty 696 00:37:20,572 --> 00:37:23,114 of beating Dr. Alan Canty to death with a baseball bat, 697 00:37:23,116 --> 00:37:25,450 then cutting the doctor's body into pieces. 698 00:37:25,452 --> 00:37:27,744 Fry was sentenced to life in prison for the killing. 699 00:37:27,746 --> 00:37:31,414 He will never be eligible for parole, ever. 700 00:37:31,416 --> 00:37:35,835 I don't believe that Lucky Fry killed Alan Canty 701 00:37:35,837 --> 00:37:39,631 in a planned, first-degree, premeditated murder kinda way. 702 00:37:39,633 --> 00:37:42,175 I believed it was a fit of rage. 703 00:37:42,252 --> 00:37:44,803 [narrator] Five days later in a separate trial, 704 00:37:44,805 --> 00:37:49,516 Dawn Spens is found guilty of being an accessory after the murder. 705 00:37:49,518 --> 00:37:51,643 But she's awarded a much different sentence. 706 00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:54,854 The judge went easy on Spens, she could have gotten five years in jail, 707 00:37:54,856 --> 00:37:57,816 instead she got ten months in jail with three years' probation. 708 00:37:58,610 --> 00:38:00,193 [Chang] I'm glad she didn't go to prison. 709 00:38:00,195 --> 00:38:04,406 She's a participant, but also a victim. 710 00:38:04,408 --> 00:38:08,493 And if she had gone to prison, I think she would have been brutalized in prison. 711 00:38:08,495 --> 00:38:11,329 So, the fact that she went to rehab, 712 00:38:11,406 --> 00:38:14,499 and I've heard that she's, you know, turned her life around. 713 00:38:14,501 --> 00:38:17,252 So, I guess it turned out to be the right decision. 714 00:38:22,968 --> 00:38:27,846 [Jan] I just decided I gotta leave. I gotta start over. 715 00:38:27,922 --> 00:38:32,100 The media was not gonna let me go. They were on me all the time. 716 00:38:32,644 --> 00:38:36,104 And I was tired of being "the widow." 717 00:38:36,148 --> 00:38:38,940 I loved Detroit, there was many things about the city I loved. 718 00:38:39,401 --> 00:38:41,818 But it wasn't home anymore. 719 00:38:42,738 --> 00:38:44,404 About eighteen months after the murder, 720 00:38:44,481 --> 00:38:47,282 I met with Lowell Cauffiel, who was writing a book. 721 00:38:48,076 --> 00:38:51,786 When I contacted her, she was pretty traumatized. 722 00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:54,247 [Jan] At first, I didn't want to meet with him. 723 00:38:54,249 --> 00:38:57,459 But my attorney said to me, "This is the only way you're gonna find out. 724 00:38:57,461 --> 00:39:00,587 You said you don't understand it, well, here's your golden opportunity." 725 00:39:00,663 --> 00:39:03,048 He filled in so many of the blanks. 726 00:39:03,124 --> 00:39:07,302 I would never have pieced it together had it not been for him. 727 00:39:07,304 --> 00:39:10,889 [narrator] For Jan, Lowell's research provides a clear picture 728 00:39:10,891 --> 00:39:15,352 of Alan's double life that all began when Jan was at her parents' in Arizona, 729 00:39:15,354 --> 00:39:19,022 recovering from mono in 1983 730 00:39:19,024 --> 00:39:21,608 So, here he is on his 50th birthday and he's alone 731 00:39:21,610 --> 00:39:25,528 and on his lunch hour, he takes that drive 732 00:39:25,605 --> 00:39:28,615 from the Fisher Building towards downtown into the Cass Corridor, 733 00:39:28,691 --> 00:39:31,034 and he sees Dawn Spens. 734 00:39:34,081 --> 00:39:39,292 They went to a seedy motel and that's where they had their first sexual encounter 735 00:39:39,294 --> 00:39:43,296 He paid her a hundred dollars, which was a lot of money in 1985. 736 00:39:44,466 --> 00:39:48,051 And then he called Jan in Arizona 737 00:39:48,053 --> 00:39:50,345 and they chatted a little bi on the telephone. 738 00:39:52,474 --> 00:39:54,132 That's how he spent his 50th birthday. 739 00:39:54,134 --> 00:39:58,395 And that is what initiated this relationship with Dawn Spens. 740 00:40:00,690 --> 00:40:03,858 It's no coincidence that he meets Dawn Spens, 741 00:40:03,860 --> 00:40:08,988 who's, like, 19 years old, approximately Jan's age when he met Jan. 742 00:40:08,990 --> 00:40:12,409 And he's telling Dawn the same things, "You're college material." 743 00:40:12,411 --> 00:40:16,121 "I'll put you up in an apartment, you'll be able to go to college." 744 00:40:16,197 --> 00:40:22,502 So, Dawn Spens is almost like a David Lynch-ian version of Jan. 745 00:40:25,048 --> 00:40:29,050 I didn't have a name for it then, but it's called conflicted grief. 746 00:40:29,094 --> 00:40:31,511 There was a part of me that was glad he was gone. 747 00:40:31,513 --> 00:40:34,472 Had he not died, I would have left him in a heartbeat, I know that 748 00:40:34,474 --> 00:40:37,058 But on the other hand, it's still a loss, it's still a... 749 00:40:37,060 --> 00:40:39,853 ...a murder, it's still a terrible death. 750 00:40:39,929 --> 00:40:42,897 Of somebody that was my companion for ten years. 751 00:40:42,941 --> 00:40:44,858 You don't walk away from that easily 752 00:40:44,934 --> 00:40:47,819 without feeling loss and sadness. 753 00:40:54,744 --> 00:40:57,162 My life feels very different now. 754 00:40:57,164 --> 00:40:59,914 Um, of course I'm a lot older, that makes a difference. 755 00:40:59,916 --> 00:41:03,418 After 30 years of trying to piece it all together and make sense of it, 756 00:41:03,420 --> 00:41:05,837 I adopted two daughters. 757 00:41:05,914 --> 00:41:08,631 It was a new role as a mom and it gave me new purpose. 758 00:41:08,708 --> 00:41:10,633 They're full biological sisters. 759 00:41:10,635 --> 00:41:13,511 Then I met Rich and... 760 00:41:13,588 --> 00:41:18,558 ...let him in slowly. I was very much at arm's length. 761 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,227 We dated for a year and he proposed to me and I didn't answer him. 762 00:41:21,304 --> 00:41:23,438 I just stared at him. 763 00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:27,275 I'm not retired yet. 764 00:41:27,277 --> 00:41:30,528 I've written a book, I've got one on the way, I've got a podcast. 765 00:41:31,114 --> 00:41:33,615 And I do public lectures. 766 00:41:35,452 --> 00:41:37,243 And I'm trying to take all that I've learned 767 00:41:37,245 --> 00:41:40,580 and use it to the benefit of other homicide survivors, 768 00:41:40,657 --> 00:41:44,209 because there is still so few resources out there. 769 00:41:44,285 --> 00:41:48,129 And so little understanding of what people go through. 770 00:41:49,299 --> 00:41:51,007 So, they need all the help they can get.