The Many Lives of Benjaman Kyle (2026) s01e02 Episode Script

Son Yo No-- no.
Son Yo No.
Benjaman ever mention anything
about what he might remember
about the Burger King?
When I found out that
Benjaman Kyle had lied
about the injuries
and the 911 call was a fake,
I was not about to drop it.
Because I knew this guy
was lying for a reason.
So I kept going.
And I said, "You know what?
I'm going to let him think that
I still believe him."
He thinks I'm a stupid person
that just wants to learn
about his memories.
But the whole time,
I was actually thinking,
"Why are you lying?
What are you hiding?"
dramatic chord strike
Benjaman didn't
Benjaman didn't tell me
that he was not beaten.
I read a lot of the articles
that said that's how he woke up.
And at that point,
being a student who was late on
assignment, I took
that and went with it.
And Benjaman never
corrected me on that.
The idea of him waking up
covered in blood was something
that was made up by Katherine.
Benjaman
Katherine was a nurse at
the J.C. Lewis Health Center.
Out of the kindness of her heart,
she tried to help me.
As far as being covered
with blood and stuff,
I think Katherine exaggerated
some of that
because we had
absolutely no help whatsoever.
I mean, no one was interested
in this case.
She did exaggerate it to get help.
reporter Bleeding and possibly
dead man.
reporter #2 Head trauma
from a brutal beating.
reporter #3
Beaten and left for dead.
John He doesn't remember
when he woke up.
So if an assertive person said,
"You woke up covered in blood,"
this guy didn't have a narrative.
So I think he believed it.
You know, and I'll tell you,
it gets exaggerated worse
the more further it goes.
It's like that old telephone story.
I don't know.
There was no-- I was not
covered with blood.
theme music playing
Michael Left four fingers.
The Benjaman Kyle case
is one of the most bizarre cases
I've ever worked.
It's very weird,
a lot of unanswered questions.
My name's Michael Albritton.
I was a chief investigator
during the investigation
on Benjaman Kyle.
I first got involved
in the Benjaman Kyle case
when I received a phone call
from Katherine Slater
wanting to know where we stood
on the investigation with Mr. Kyle
and his assault.
I told Ms. Slater
I was not aware of an assault,
and I talked to the police
officers that were actually
on the original EMS call,
and they disputed the claims,
basically saying that there was
no visible injuries to his body,
that he was not bloodied.
I have a copy of the Bryan County EMS
report right here.
According to the report,
no trauma noted.
So, I shared the information
I discovered with Ms. Slater.
She was adversarial.
She insisted that he had been beaten
and that we were not doing our job
by investigating his assault.
It was very suspicious to me.
And eventually,
the Richmond Hill Police Department
and my reputation faced
some backlash in this.
People began to believe that
Benjaman Kyle had been beaten.
reporter Benjaman Kyle was
found beaten.
Michael Especially when he did
his media tours.
Ben, thank you for being here.
I never talked to the local police.
People began to believe
that the Richmond Hill
Police Department
didn't care about Benjaman Kyle.
And this grew into an urban myth,
and it festered.
And even my mother called me
on the phone,
and my mother basically said,
"Son, I raised you better than that,"
because of the way
I was portrayed in the media.
I felt angry because
I knew what the truth was.
Benjaman Kyle was a fraud.
Ken The amnesia issue
was perplexing
to psychiatric specialists,
on numerous occasions,
questioned the amnesia
and was wondering
if it was malingering.
You know, the doctors
suspecting that he was
faking the amnesia.
# Oh #
# Whoa #
# Whoa #
# Whoa #
I don't remember the bloody part.
The beaten part, yes.
But bloody, I'm not--
I just can't recall at the moment.
But I didn't invent words.
I was trying to get help.
Benjaman lived with me
for about four years.
I wanted to help him.
I was like, "What can I do
to help identify you?"
I think it was a TV commercial,
and I thought, "FamilyTreeDNA.
"Why not? Nothing else has worked.
How can it hurt?"
So I got that test
and that I administered to him
and mailed it in.
He seemed genuine in the beginning,
but I saw little things
over time until
I couldn't ignore it anymore.
Benjaman kept up
with this online community
called Websleuths.
All these people that
have been trying to help him.
I really like to look at
Websleuths in a very simple way--
don't be a jerk
and stick to the facts.
But eventually he had
some falling out.
They started to suspect
and believe that he's not for real.
And then he started to get mad
at Websleuths,
the administrator,
Trish, and this woman, Liz Cook.
It really started to get bad.
Benjaman posed as Liz Cook,
this person he was mad at,
and went on to this other site
and got access
and started bad-mouthing her boss
to get that person in trouble.
I think Benjaman's pretty good
at computers.
He was good enough to go
into that woman's account
and pose as her.
It is completely wrong.
It's unethical. It's immoral.
It's wrong.
He told me about it, laughing.
I think he thought
that I would share in that joke.
And instead of me sharing
the joke with him,
I got upset and said,
"Is that what you're gonna do when--
when I have a difference with you?"
And I was really upset that,
instead of this innocent,
poor victim that he portrays,
he is showing
me how full of guile he is
and how bitter and hateful and ugly
that is to do that to a person.
It wasn't as overt as it was,
"How can I damage someone?"
It was so unbelievable,
and it's just really underhanded.
I'm more afraid of people like that.
I don't believe he is devious.
And that was the day I said,
"How do I plan
to get him out of here?"
Katherine
I started talking to him about,
how do you want to transition?
Where do you want to go?
I think our time is up.
He said, "I'm not going anywhere."
That's when it really
started to get bad.
He really changed
and became hostile-- very hostile.
And here I have this person
that's very hostile to me
in my own home.
It's-- it's scary.
It's scary.
And then I said,
"Benjaman, we got to go now.
"You're out of here.
"Start cleaning some of this stuff.
It has to go."
And we were heading out,
and I just happened to turn around,
and he had this metal,
like, ring in the yard,
and he's burning something.
I turn around and said,
"What-- what are you doing?"
And I'm telling him,
"Hey, this is my property.
You have to stop."
You know, "You're not allowed to
"just come and burn
on someone's property.
I'm telling you not to do this."
And he's continuing to burn.
I don't know what was in it.
And while he's doing this,
I'm just circling around
with the hose,
trying to keep the whole area wet
so it can't spread.
My brother, he's a retired cop.
And I said, "I need you here now."
And he came over.
Benjaman had to be out,
fingers snap, that moment.
He grabbed a backpack.
Maybe he planned this.
I don't know. He grabbed a backpack.
I didn't search any of his stuff.
He did something to the computer.
Then he left.
He burns bridges.
He burns his bridges where he goes.
Benjaman must have had things
that he didn't want people to see.
Katherine had to get her brother,
who is a police officer,
to come and physically
remove him from the property.
And it was only when I started
to go and talk to people
about what their experience
was with Benjaman Kyle
that I started to learn
who I was dealing with.
Benjaman has a long,
long trail of people
that he's taken advantage of.
##
Josh When I first became aware
of Ben's story,
he was living in the woods
at the time.
He couldn't get a job anywhere.
You know, it still almost
brings tears to my eyes.
sniffles
Yeah.
So, you know, I kind of come
from an area, you know,
I'd lost every--
my whole world at one time
had been lost and my life was
taken away from me when my dad died.
And I just felt
this peace in my heart.
And he gained my trust so much,
which is so hard to do.
But somehow this guy won me over.
# Ooh #
I had a garage apartment
at my house.
I told him, "You're welcome
to come stay at my house."
# Ooh #
But after a while,
the trust really was shattered.
And ever since then,
I haven't trusted him.
Yeah, he says,
"Oh, I know everything
you guys talked about.
I had it all recorded."
ominous chord strike
Shannon The more that
we learned about Benjaman Kyle,
it started to seem like
he was an antisocial, aggressive,
aberrant individual that
had a dark side.
And Katherine Slater said,
"I have a computer.
"It's my computer, but he used
it the entire time he was here.
He did something to it."
He had wiped it.
So she gave us this computer,
and we brought it to this
high-level computer
forensic company.
Hi, it's Eric Evangelista
and Shannon Evangelista.
-Shannon Hi, guys.
-investigator Afternoon, everyone.
Shannon We also have
Alexander Block with
us today on our team.
So if you guys could kind of,
like, start from scratch
in terms of the computer,
that would be awesome.
Shannon Benjaman forensically
wiped this whole computer.
And he didn't just use some,
like, software
that some amateur buys at,
like, the computer store.
He used high-level forensic
wiping tools that you have
to have a very high level
of computer knowledge
to be able to do.
ominous music plays
It was terrifying
what was on the computer.
It seems like he was creating
fake emails to look like
Katherine's and sending himself
cold-case murders that happened
in Colorado when he was there.
This is the John Doe case.
On February 17th, 1977,
hikers discovered a body.
One of the murders he sent himself
was right by where he was
standing on a mountain saying
Benjaman If anyone
wants to get rid of a body,
this would be a good place
to shove one off.
Shannon
There was serial killer
stuff on there.
I mean, you go into my computer,
it's like, "J.Crew is having a sale."
It's not like,
"Man murders prostitutes
and feeds them to pigs"
and "Burger Chef murder."
reporter
Four employees went to work
and were never seen alive again.
reporter #2
The brutal killing of four
Burger Chef employees
is one of the most notorious
unsolved crimes
in Indiana history.
Shannon Burger Chef murder,
Burger Chef murder,
Burger Chef murder,
all over his computer, everywhere.
As you can see from this,
he has bookmarks for Burger Chef.
I mean, if you take
all of this stuff together,
it was like getting
into the mind of Benjaman Kyle.
It painted a picture
of a very disturbed
and terrifying individual.
Shannon
When we got the results
of the computer forensics,
it revealed a terrifying side
of Benjaman Kyle.
This was a very scary person.
And then, out of the blue,
we got shocking news.
It's a Georgia mystery
we've been following for close
to a year, and this morning,
we've learned the unidentified
man living under the name
Benjaman Kyle now knows
his true identity.
Shannon
This is more than ten years
after Benjaman was discovered
by the dumpster behind Burger King.
reporter
This is kind of a turning point
for you right here.
Benjaman
Oh, it's a big turning point,
because I did, you know, legally,
I didn't exist.
ID clatters
My name is William Burgess Powell.
I just got an ID card in
my real name so that I can work
and get a job.
I am no longer a ghost.
I exist, and I have proof now.
I never thought it would happen.
laughs
reporter
Benjaman Kyle tells me
he finally knows his real name.
Benjaman got help from this woman.
Colleen Fitzpatrick,
a forensic genealogist,
linked Benjaman
to the last name Powell
and this woman, CeCe Moore.
The methodology that we used
to solve the Benjaman Kyle case
was actually developed
for adoption searches.
reporter
Moore and a team worked
on Benjaman's case
for two and a half years,
comparing his DNA to those
in databases across the country.
Along with information
BK thought he remembered,
Moore's team made the connection.
When we first learned
who Benjaman Kyle was,
that he was William Powell,
all it did was raise more questions.
When they first told me,
it was just shock.
It was just shock.
When they figured out
that they thought it was
William Burgess Powell,
they know I had three brothers.
Furman is the oldest,
then it's Thomas,
then it's me, and then it's Robert.
Furman is in Indiana,
Thomas is dead.
And Robert is in Florida.
They did, uh.
They thought I was dead,
so they stopped looking.
eerie music playing
We are in my apartment
in Jacksonville,
where I am packing up
to leave for Indiana.
It looks like my brother needed
some help, and I feel
that, that's
my responsibility, so
moving to Lafayette.
This is gonna be, you know,
my place and no one to yell at me
if I spend my money on something--
anything foolish.
And I really like that idea.
I like to collect knives.
I'm just
I always, uh, am on the lookout
for knives at the thrift store.
Now that's actually
a pretty good knife.
I paid five bucks for that but--
The best hand can opener you can get.
I always buy at thrift stores.
I have a bunch of DVDs.
I have probably three
to four hundred.
And I got-- I got these because
I pull them out laughs,
Care Bears.
I pulled them out of the dumpster
so I could have the case.
Are you saying I'm a hoarder?
laughs
Josh Schrutt, he has done
a lot for me here
since I've been in Jacksonville.
Uh, I think I pretty much
returned that to him though.
inaudible Twenty four hours
and seven days a week.
And I'm glad
we won't be doing that
I hope we are still going to be
staying friends, though.
-Josh You all packed?
-Benjaman Yep.
Getting ready to leave.
Definitely, you know, I still
think your whole story's
frickin amazing.
Um, after these four
or five years together,
you're always welcome back here
-if things don't work out up there.
-Benjaman All right.
-I'd always help you out.
-Benjaman Let's, uh
let's bring this to a close
before we both start crying.
All right, man.
Best of luck to you up there.
Travel safe.
And if this thing was a hoax.
-I really don't know
what I would say.
-Benjaman laughs
I would feel terrible,
but, uh, you know,
I really don't know
what I would say at this point.
No, you'd probably say,
"God, he was good.
He fooled everyone."
Josh sighs
Josh When he first told me
that he's been found,
it was so interesting.
There wasn't this giant excitement.
There wasn't tears of joy.
It was more of like,
"They found me."
chuckles sheepishly "Oh, boy."
You know, I was like,
"That is such an odd reaction."
And then I said,
"Ben, what are you going to do
if they find out
some solid information that
you made this whole thing up?"
He says, "I'd be screwed."
I'm assuming I worked
in restaurants, I just--
I just know too much
about restaurants.
Oh, maybe something like
an Applebee's or a, you know,
a Denny's, you know,
stuff like that.
Which, by the way, you want
to film me getting a tattoo
with that number tattooed
on my butt?
-Shannon laughs
-John Yeah.
laughs heartily
But I've been seriously
thinking about that, yes.
Mine?
I put it in the phone books.
John I know.
Um
Let's see. What number did I put in?
Oh, I put it under my name, I think.
stammering I put my-- oh, God.
And I got-- mumbling
What the hell's going on here?
Fellas, I did not grow up
with a smartphone,
so I'm just not as damn fast
as what all you young kids are.
Uh-huh Contacts.
Uh
You have the missing persons
report that was filed
by my brother?
Benjaman All right,
here it is-- I just sent it.
This is the one my brothers
filed when they filed a
missing persons report.
Benjaman Yes.
Second page.
Upper-- upper-right corner.
When Benjaman found out he was
William Powell, through DNA,
the Richmond Hill Police Department,
they gave it to him as a courtesy.
But he didn't even share
that he had this document.
He's not being up front with us.
Yeah.
No.
Right.
Pardon.
What's that on there?
I was a cook.
Oh this? I
Um, no. No wait.
We were asking
-what I remember?
-John Yes.
But I don't remember this.
I'm learning it from the sheet.
Shannon
This missing persons report
states that he was last seen
in Indiana in March of 1976.
Ken So 1976 to 2004,
when he was discovered
behind a Burger King
next to a dumpster,
there's a long period of time,
almost 30 years that Benjaman
says he has no memory.
Shannon
It says that William Powell
had stayed in Boulder, Colorado,
and was working as
a cook in an Azar's restaurant.
Case withdrawn from the NCIC.
-We got his Social Security records.
-Ken Okay.
Shannon William Powell
stopped existing in 1983.
Basically, finding out that
Benjaman Kyle is William Powell
is only half of the story,
because who the hell
was he for 30 years,
when he was living off the grid?
So we're going to Social Security.
Why are we going to Social Security?
We need to find out
where you've been,
especially during
that large gap of time.
At this stage of the game,
this is what I know.
I know Benjaman Kyle
is really William Powell.
I believe that Benjaman Kyle,
aka William Powell,
never had amnesia.
I know that he was only
William Powell until 1983.
Here's what I don't know.
I don't know where the hell he was
from 1983 until 2004.
Ken Okay.
Benjaman I don't want to talk.
-Hi.
-indistinct chatter
clerk Mm-hmm.
Shannon
Social Security administrator
told us that William Powell
had applied for Medicare
before CeCe Moore had
figured out who he was,
before he knew he was
William Powell.
I don't know.
Told you, I don't like to speculate.
I don't know.
I changed my name, maybe?
Used another-- yeah,
and used another
made up
a Social Security number, maybe.
I hear about people doing
it all the time.
I thought that's what I should
have done to begin with.
-Ten years ago.
-And work off-- work off
the books, you mean?
No, make up
a Social Security number.
-Well, that's fraud.
-I mean, yeah, well.
How do the Mexicans
get away with it?
Well, not all of them
get away with it.
They get deported and some
of them get thrown in jail.
You don't want
that to happen to you, do you?
Yeah, well, how about a federal,
what do they call those?
A country club prison.
-laughs
-Yeah, yeah, you know,
we could probably
arrange that if you'd like.
Benjaman
Eric and Shannon, they got
twins.
Maybe they got a nanny.
ominous music playing
Alexander Yeah, that's not okay.
So if Benjaman
-signed up for Medicare
in April of 2015.
-Right.
He didn't discover who he was
until July of 2015.
Ken Right.
How do you sign up for Medicare
if you don't know
your Social Security number?
It's impossible.
You cannot sign up for Medicare
unless you have
a Social Security number.
So, it clearly shows us
very definitively that he knew
who he was at least
as early as April 2015.
Eric It is a big deal.
So, he's lying.
Ken He is absolutely lying.
-An intentional lie.
-He's lying, he's lying.
soft music playing
We're on my hometown
in Lafayette, Indiana,
and this is 18th Street.
I'm gonna meet my brother
in about five minutes.
I mean, you know, it is weird
because I don't--
I don't remember him,
and I'm gonna meet him.
We've talked a bit on the phone,
so this is, uh,
gonna be interesting.
I'm a little nervous,
a little anxious.
For the last 10 years,
I haven't had a family
or a past history,
and now all of a sudden
I'm getting one,
and I hope it's one I like.
Uh
Hopefully, all this is gonna
bring back a lot of memories.
I don't, uh
uh
You know, these streets seem
familiar we're driving on.
I'm sorry, I'm getting
preoccupied by looking
at the scenery and talking
at the same time.
Sorry, I guess
I am getting nervous now.
My name is Furman Ansel Powell,
and Benjaman's my little brother.
And we grew up here and
actually grew up in this house.
I haven't seen my brother
since the '70s,
and we just assumed he was dead.
Benjaman I'm glad
we're finally doing this,
but, you know, this is
kind of strange to me
because I'm meeting a stranger,
uh
who is actually not supposed
to be a stranger to me.
So I, uh
sighs
Um.
I hope all this goes well.
I really want it to go well.
groans softly
bleep
That must be him.
I thought he had more hair.
Finally, we get to meet.
Furman I can't hear.
Oh, I said,
"Finally we get to meet."
Oh, yeah. So do we look alike?
I think a little, yeah.
Well, which one's better looking?
-both laughing
-Benjaman I'm not-- I'm not--
I'm not gonna go there.
-I'm not gonna go there.
-Furman laughs
You don't have as much hair as
what I thought you would have.
Furman No, it went years ago.
Ah, damn.
Old house.
This was our grandma's house.
Benjaman Looks like
it's aged like I have.
laughs
Where did you get that?
Oh, you and Dad made that
when you were Cub Scouts.
Benjaman Pinewood Derby.
Furman Yeah.
I thought you'd like that.
Benjaman
I'm surprised it's still here.
Well, Mom put that
in a china closet.
Mom loved you.
Not a day came by that
she weren't thinking of you.
They're all dead, but,
you know, it's
I got a family.
It gives me a sense of belonging
that I never had before.
How'd it do in the race?
Do you remember?
It is a lot prettier than it ran.
both laughing
Bill was extremely close
to our mother.
She was still grieving for him
the day she died.
-Benjaman That's Mom?
-Furman Yeah.
And I could see Dad
in your face a little bit.
At 10 years old, I didn't think
our childhood was abnormal.
Today, looking back,
it was very dysfunctional.
My father was drinking
extremely heavy,
and there was a lot of,
today it'd be called physical abuse.
My father losing his temper
and getting real physical with Bill.
Bill was in pure hell.
Some of the things
that Furman told me,
he started describing
a few of the things that
happened when we were kids.
And I have to admit, I just--
I just sat down and cried
for a while.
I mean
Ugh.
voice breaking
I guess it was just upsetting.
I don't feel like talking.
The abuse when I was a kid,
if it's as bad as
what my brother was saying,
it was-- saying it was, that might,
to a large extent,
explain the memory amnesia.
Twenty years later, but
I think there could be
a delayed reaction.
Dr. Gorgens I'm not sold
on Benjaman's amnesia.
Benjaman's assertion that
his memory loss is a product
of childhood trauma decades later
doesn't necessarily add up.
It makes me suspicious
about whether Benjaman actually
has amnesia.
After reviewing the medical records,
there are a lot of red flags.
When you see "malingering,"
it's like the scarlet letter.
The shorthand for "malingering"
is faking.
But why would someone lie
about having amnesia?
It might be because you were
doing something illegal.
Furman
With our father being abusive,
Bill had all this pent-up anger.
He'd fly off in a rage.
He'd blow up,
and he'd be totally out of control.
Ken We're listening,
and Furman hadn't realized
he was being recorded.
His mic's still on.
The cameramen hadn't shut it off,
and we captured this
brief conversation
between Furman and his brother Bill.
dark music playing
That came out of-- completely
came out of nowhere.
We were not expecting that.
Ken Why bring up killing people
to your brother
who just returned home?
Eric Now we really suspect
there's some big secrets
that we're not being led on to.