Urban Legends (2007) s03e06 Episode Script

The world is full of urban legends, remarkable stories that spread like viruses around the planet, mutating and evolving until no one can remember which ones are true and which ones are Urban Legends.
In this episode, called 'Close Calls', we show you three stories all linked by near misses.
First up, UK police desperately try to save face with a dangerous killer on the loose.
Next it's the story of a Croatian man with a habit for near death experiences.
Is he amazingly cursed or incredibly lucky? And finally, an unhappy Dutch couple finds a surprising way to inject some vim back into their marriage.
Watch all three stories and decide which urban legends are true and which ones are false.
Find out if you guessed right at the end of the show.
First it's a story we like to call 'Faceless Woman?' Detective Frank Andrews knows the importance of not letting cases get to him.
But not even Frank could avoid becoming consumed by one strange and violent crime spree.
Frank Andrews: I was so obsessed I had to see it through.
Frank became involved with the case back in 1992 in Reading, England, when a young woman was brutally murdered.
Two wine glasses left on her table are the best hope for evidence.
So we took those to check for uh, saliva, glass is also a very good surface for things like fingerprints.
There are no usable prints, but one glass does yield a DNA sample.
Frank cross-references it and incredibly, it matches DNA from 4 other unsolved crimes, including another murder.
Even more shocking - the DNA profile is that of a woman.
Serial killers are almost exclusively male and in that respect this was a very unusual case.
The police find it hard to believe, but the same woman's DNA turns up at more crime scenes.
The media picks up the story and gives the rampaging criminal a name She'd never been seen, that was the reason that the phrase was coined 'The Faceless Woman'.
6 months after the first murder, the pressure is mounting on Frank for results.
But, another murder 4 weeks later, takes things to a new, disturbing level.
He was attacked and killed.
We found blood and skin fragments under his nails.
Not only did we find the DNA that matched the Faceless Woman we also found uh DNA that matched an unknown male.
This meant that she'd recruited an accomplice.
It's Frank's first solid break and he jumps on it, determined to find out the identity of the Faceless Woman from her new partner.
We did find the accomplice, we brought him in and questioned him rigorously, he refused to give up the identity of the faceless woman, in fact he denied having an accomplice.
It's no use He was charged and sentenced but in terms of the faceless woman we were back at square one.
I was absolutely gutted I really thought that this was it, we were actually going to finally solve this case.
Only 10 days later the Faceless Woman makes another appearance, this time with a baffling twist.
We had an unidentified male deceased.
Following normal procedure, uh we took an oral swab.
Um, needless to say we were absolutely amazed to find the faceless woman's DNA from a male corpse, there's no way this could, could happen.
Frank doesn't know what to make of it.
Until, with a sinking sensation, it occurs to him that he may have been overlooking the obvious.
Frank Andrews: The DNA kits that were being used all came from a medical supply company located in Birmingham .
Everything suggests someone has been tampering with the DNA kits.
DNA samples from the medical supply company turns up a match! Frank has tracked down his long-time nemesis: the Faceless Woman is, Mrs.
Millie Harris, a 59 year old lab worker.
Obviously no serial killer.
We observed her for a few days to find out if this was malicious tampering or accidental.
Finally Frank gets his answer.
This bizarre and complex mystery has a ridiculous simple solution.
The DNA kits contained cotton swabs which are used to gather evidence.
Most of the swabs were very uniform but occasionally they would be a little bit ragged and this one lady in order to keep them uniform, would lick her fingers, and press them back into shape.
Thereby contaminating those samples with her DNA.
With the odd, well-meaning, lick, Millie unwittingly had the police chasing their own tails It just goes to show you can never be sure of anything that's in front of you.
A police force spends 9 months hunting a serial killer only to discover the criminal is an innocent woman.
But did it really happen? You'll have to wait until the end of the show to find out.
But before then, check out this mini myth! Mini myth number 1422 That Coat's on me! In a Columbus, Ohio coat store, Linda Brown shouted Hey everyone, coats are on me, I just won the lottery! 500 lucky people swarmed the racks, desperate to get their share, as Linda left in her stretch limo to go get the cash to pay.
But, lo and behold, much to the chagrin of the waiting horde, it was a huge prank.
A riot broke out as people tried to steal the coats they believed were they were due.
But Linda had beat a safe retreat.
But did it happen? Discover the truth after the break.
Welcome back to Urban Legends.
Before the break we told you about the woman who offered to buy coats for everyone in the store and then took off without paying, causing a riot.
Was it true or wrapped in a cloak of lies? It wastotally true! The joke was on Linda when she got arrested for causing the riot and not paying her $900 limo bill.
On Urban Legends, we show you three stories.
You have to decide which ones really happened and which ones are merely legends.
So far you've seen the tale of a confounding crime spree that turned out to be a case of contaminated DNA swabs.
But is it true or false? Find out at the end of the show.
Now it's time for our next story.
It's called Lucky Man.
Frano Selak loves to entertain.
But the biggest crowd pleaser isn't his music - it's the incredible story of his life.
In fact, Frano may be the luckiest man who has ever lived.
Frano's story begins in Croatia in 1958.
He's a teacher on a school trip.
After dropping off the kids, Frano and the driver head out for lunch.
Suddenly, the driver loses control.
The horrific crash would have killed most people.
But somehow, Frano survives.
But god's plan for Frano is far stranger than he could have ever imagined.
Three years later, his brush with death is a distant memory.
Frano is on a long train ride.
The train derails and plunges into the icy water.
The train cars sink.
Seventeen passengers die.
But just like his first crash, Frano escapes without a scratch.
Frano won't have to wait long to find out.
A year later, Frano is avoiding busses and trains, but he can't resist the latest form of transportation.
It's his very first flight.
And he's determined to take advantage of every last luxury.
Frano practices his Croatian charm on the flight attendant.
Suddenly the unbelievable happens.
Before it crashes, Frano is sucked from the plane.
Freefalling without a parachute, surely this is the end for Frano.
But something amazing happens.
A haystack breaks his 2000 foot fall.
Once again, incredible luck has saved Frano's life.
After escaping death for a third time Frano thinks God must be done playing games with him.
But he's wrong.
On the 5th of June, 2002 2 days after his 73rd birthday, fate finally catches up with Frano.
A lifetime of near misses is about to change.
As Frano stops to check his lotto ticket, he has no idea what is about to hit him.
Finally, Frano's luck has done more than save him from death.
After bad luck with planes, trains and buses there's only one form of transportation he truly trusts.
A man survives 3 crazy accidents only to win the lottery.
But is it true? You'll have to wait til the end of the show to find out.
But before then, check out this mini myth.
Mini myth number 5761 Lottery Ticket Jim Morgans had cause for a celebratory drink when he realized he'd bought the winning ticket! His fellow bar patrons responded with disbelief, forcing him to pass it around so they could see for themselves.
The ticket went from hand to hand around the bar - except when it arrived back to the Jim, it was a completely different ticket.
One of the man's friends had swapped and swiped the winning ticket, cashed it anonymously, and disappeared with the winnings! So, is it true? We'll let you know after the break.
Welcome back to Urban Legends, before the break we showed you the mini myth of the guy who passed around his winning lotto ticket, only to lose it, as fast as he won it.
So what do you think, is this tale a winning ticket? This story is, in fact, a fake - although one which is particularly popular in China.
On Urban Legends, Your mission is sort the totally true from the fantastically false.
So far you've seen the tale of Frank Andrews who spent 9 months hunting a hardened criminal only to discover he was chasing contaminated DNA swabs.
And the story of lucky Frano Selak, who survived three accidents against the odds, then won the lottery.
But which ones are real and which ones are fake? All will be revealed at the end of the show.
In the meantime, watch our final story.
We've named it 'Twisted Tryst'.
Gierta Van Dijk knows how quickly a relationship can grow stale.
But she never imagined what would ultimately happen to her marriage.
It would leave her changed forever.
Back in 1995, Jakob and Gierta Van Dijk had been married for 12 years.
But things aren't what they once were.
To make matters worse the Van Dijk's have financial issues: Gierta assumes the worst.
But in reality, Jakob has taken to spending all their money on something else.
Prostitutes.
Jakob is careful to conceal his secret from his wife, but ignorance is far from bliss for Gierta.
Gierta decides it's time for a change.
She finds herself a part-time job just outside of town.
Meanwhile, Jakob's addiction is taking over his life.
The couple are drifting further and further apart.
But all that's about to change.
One fateful evening, Jakob decides it's time to try a new brothel.
But Gierta's new job is the oldest profession in the world.
How will they get past this? From that day, every week Jakob and Gierta re-light their fire in the comfort of a brothel.
It was not an outcome either of them could have predicted.
Lying and cheating are two things that normally destroy a relationship.
But for Gierta and Jacob, it's the ingredient that saved their marriage.
But did it really happen? We'll let you know after the break.
Welcome back to Urban Legends.
It's time to reveal the truth about our three incredible stories.
First up, it's a story of Frank Andrews who was lead on a wild police goose chase by some contaminated DNA swabs.
But is it fact or fiction? Frank Andrews: An incredible story, and totally bogus.
I'm not a copper, I'm an actor.
A similar story happened in Europe over a span of 15 years, but they never found out how the swabs were contaminated.
Next it's the tale of Frano Selak, the luckiest man in the world, who thwarted death three times and then won the lottery.
But did it happen? This story is totally true.
Which leaves the story of Gierta Van Dyke, and the unbelievable coincidence of running into her husband at the brothel where she secretly worked.
But is it true? Prostitution is permitted in Holland, and that's the only part of the story which is true.
I'm a school teacher.
This story is fantastically fake but versions of this have been circulating the internet since 2001.
That's the end of our episode called Close Calls.
Were you able to separate the righteously right from the ridiculously wrong? Don't worry if you couldn't.
You'll get another chance to separate fact from fiction in the next installment of Urban Legends.