Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal

35. Sleuthing a Psychic Sleuth

~ Chapter 35 On February 7,1996, I appeared on the Mark Walberg Show, a television program produced in NewYork City. Among other guests-who included an alien abductee and her hypnotherapist, a UFO conspiracy theorist, and a pair of ghost hunters-there were two "psychics," one of whom claimed to assist police departments. He was Ron Bard from southern New York State. Walberg asked, "Ron, how did you discover this ability?" Bard replied, "Well, it's been in my family for quite a few generations . I've solved over 110 murder cases and returned 150 missing children in my career so far:' he boasted. "And how did you help them ... ?" "The one that stands in my mind most:' Bard replied, "was two girls found in plastic bags in Harrison, New York. Anybody can call the Chief ofHarrison Police Department and find this out for fact," he challenged. I resolved to do just that. Bard continued: "They found two girls in plastic bags. We went to the scene. The girls weren't identifiable. We identified the girls, found an unmarked key in the pocket, went to the south Bronx, unlocked the door-there is a lot ofputting the evidence together inevitably-the key worked in the lock and that's how we found the murderer" (Bard 1996). This certainly sounded like an amazing case of psychic power. Unfortunately , an examination of news stories relating to the case (Gannett 1984) and the testimonyofthe Harrison police chief (Dorio 1996a, 1996b) paint quite a different picture. The first newspaper account was March 9, 1984. It reported that "the bound, frozen bodies of two unidentified Sleuthing a Psychic Sleuth women, possibly teenagers"-each in a green trash bag tied at the top with rope-had been discovered near Harrison High School. "One of the women was white, the other black:' the newspaper reported. "Both had their hands tied behind their backs with twine, and were curled up, almost in a fetal position."Adetective was quoted as saying that the young women appeared to have been dumped at the site after being killed-the cause of death not yet having been determined. Subsequent reports told of the difficulty police were having in learning the identities of the two victims, neither of whom was carrying identification. The victims had been fully clothed, and there was no evidence of sexual abuse. They had died from suffocation. An item found in one of the plastic bags-which police would not identify at the time-led them to a particular area of the Bronx. The item was a key that had been made in a store on Southern Boulevard, so the police search was focused on that vicinity. In just over a month, police circulars bearing descriptions and morgue photos ofthe victims, together with articles in a Spanish-language newspaper , had brought forth the parents ofoneyoung woman and the mother of another-each looking for a missing child. They identified their respective daughters as Daisy Rivera, 20, and Iris Comacho, 15, both from the Bronx and both Hispanic. The key in Miss Rivera's possession fit the door to her apartment. Before that, according to an April 15 newspaper account, police thought the key might have belonged to the murderer. Eventually, after a five-month investigation of the case, in the aftermath of a drug raid in Yonkers, police were able to arrest three men for the murders. Eyewitnesses named those responsible and told how one man had ordered the older of the two females killed because he thought she was an undercover agent, and the teenage girl because she had said something that offended him. Each of the three killers was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive sentences oftwenty-five years to lifethe maximum under New York law (Gannett 1984). Only a couple of news reports relating to the case referred to a psychic . And although no name was given, it was not Ron Bard but his mother (Dorio 1996a). "She" was described in the news reports as a "volunteer psychic." Her involvement had been permitted by the lieutenant in charge of the case, who spoke of what he considered her accuracy in the case. One account attributes to him the statement that she helped both to identify the bodies and hone in on the murderer, while another account 211 ~ 212 "f\ Real-Life X-Files quotes him as saying, "She helped primarily for identification." In fact...