Chasing Evil: Shocking Crimes, Supernatural Forces, and an FBI Agent's Search for Hope and Justice

After the failed nine-hour interrogation, Bob Hilland returns to New York discouraged and consults John Edward, who insists that Michael is the key. Soon after, Michael Smith agrees to meet. In a New York conference room, Michael signs an immunity agreement and warns Hilland that his account will sound unbelievable.

Michael recounts that on Thanksgiving Day of 1974, he found John Smith in the family garage building a large plywood box, claiming that it was for Janice Hartman’s belongings. In May or June 1979, his grandfather had him open the box, which had sat in the garage for five years and smelled foul. Inside, Michael saw discolored clothes, a pewter crucifix, and what appeared to be rainbow-colored hair. He then saw Janice’s face, hard as wood, and realized that two items he initially believed were cylinders were actually her legs, severed below the knees. Michael called Smith, who arrived hours later, claimed drug dealers had killed Janice, and took the box. Michael admits that he suggested burying it under a concrete slab at a townhouse development on Grace Lane and helped load it into Smith’s Corvette. Smith later claimed to have handled the matter.

Hilland is skeptical of Michael’s story but returns to John Edward, who confirms the story’s key elements, including images of a rainbow and a garage; he also provides a sensory cue of cherry pipe tobacco, which he associates with a space to the right of the garage.