share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> a letter arrives in the mail with news of a strange and lucrative inheritance. >> the letter goes on to say, "if i got a letter like this, i would think it to be a scam." >> and i was like, "why are we named? somebody's scamming us." >> so, is it a scam? >> i said, "you know, ray, there's a fine between genius and idiot." he'd say, "yeah," and he said, "i cross that two or three times a day." >> who is this mysterious benefactor? >> he was a hidden man. >> he didn't have the family life. he didn't have a friend to talk to. >> he really, truly was a fan. >> but an inheritance? >> that's a strange inheritance and a stranger story still. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm on old route 66 in central illinois. i'm heading to the small farming town of lincoln, where the strangest of inheritance stories unfolded. on a monday morning in july 2012, farmer bob pharis heads out to mow hay on some land he leases from an old friend named ray fulk. >> and it was very uncommon for ray not to come out and talk to me. and then i smelled something. i happened to look over and the bin door was open and that was not a good sign. i just went over there, and then i found him. and then i called 911 an >> the county coroner, acting on info from a neighbor, contacts attorney don behle to inform him his 71-year old client has died

of heart failure. behle cannot even remember fulk. >> i hadn't seen him in 15 years, and so i had no idea who they're talking about. >> how strange is it that we're here right now talking to you about this guy you barely remember? >> [ laughs ] it's very strange. >> don checks his files and realizes he indeed worked with someone named ray fulk back in 1997. >> he wanted me to change his will and he brought it in to me and i was named as the executor. but all i had was a copy. it was 15 years later. he could have changed his will. >> don drives out to ray's farmhouse to find the original will. there he discovers an unsettling scene. >> it was absolutely covered with cobwebs and would remind you of a show where you'd have dracula involved. >> i mean, my house might sometimes be untidy. are we talking about more than that? >> we're talking about a hoarder show. the whole place reeked. >> somehow, the lawyer locates

ray fulk's will. it directs $5,000 dollars to a chicago animal shelter, but the next part is a puzzle. >> "i give and bequeath all my tangible personal property to my friends, kevin m. brophy of san fernando, california, and peter barton of valley stream, long island, new york. >> who are these guys? and how does don find them? that will take more digging -- digging through the debris. >> in ray's room, he had pictures of wolves torn out of magazines and put on the wall. i had no idea how it all fit together at that point in time. >> he'll start to fit it all together soon. among ray's many diaries written in neat cursive, don finds a scrapbook with a big clue. >> it said "lucan." i opened it up, and it had kevin's picture in there. >> "lucan" was a tv series starring kevin brophy as a boy raised by wolves.

it was cancelled after just 12 episodes in 1978, when ray fulk was 37 years old. >> it was pretty clear to me that show meant something to ray and he identified with it. >> don digs further and discovers the other man in the will -- peter barton -- also an actor. why fulk named him, however, is a bigger riddle. from to 1988 to '92, barton played dr. scott grainger in the soap opera "the young and the restless. >> how am i ever gonna be able to thank you? >> before that, he starred in a short-lived tv series called "the powers of matthew star." two basically unknown actors that ray had a fondness for. did you have any idea how much they were going to inherit? >> the inheritance consisted of approximately 165 acres, some c.d.s that were at the bank, and the cash that i found around the house. >> how much is it all worth?

don's not exactly sure, but figures hundreds of thousands of dollars easy, maybe even $1 million or more. so, the dutiful attorney writes letters to the two retired actors, informing them of their very strange inheritance. >> "he has named you, as his friends, beneficiaries of his estate." i was stunned. i was shocked. >> i took the other side of it completely, going, "kevin, if it's too good to be true, it probably is." >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. which strange personality willed that a séance be held for him every year? was it master of the macabre edgar allan poe, escape artist harry houdini, or horror-film icon vincent price? the answer in a moment. looking sharp, len. who's the lucky lady? i'm going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit,

you go crawling to the bank. this is how i dress to get a mortgage. i just go to lendingtree. i calculate how much home i can afford. i get multiple offers to compare side by side. and the best part is... the banks come crawling to me. everything you need to get a better mortgage. clothing optional. lendingtree. when banks compete, you win. okay! ...awkward.

>> so, which strange personality willed an annual séance be held for him? it's "b," harry houdini, who died in 1926. he wanted to reveal himself to his wife once a year. >> let's reset. in august 2012, two former actors -- kevin brophy and peter barton -- each receive a letter informing them they are the co-inheritors of the estate of someone named ray fulk. ray had never met either of

them. leaving a huge amount of money to someone you've never met sounds more than eccentric, which leads me to a question for ray's attorney -- don behle. it says, as every will does, "ray fulk, of lincoln, illinois, being of sound and disposing mind and memory." was he? >> yes. he knew what he owned. he may have been odd, but he was of sound mind. >> my next stop is southern california to meet kevin brophy. >> my name is kevin brophy, and in 2012, i received a letter that was really about to change my life. >> it's here in the land of sun, surf, and palm trees kevin started his career more than 30 years ago. >> this is an episode of "lucan." he was a boy raised by wolves. that was the premise of the pilot, and the pilot went to 12 episodes over a two-year period. >> as so many actors will say,

it was a good ride while it lasted. it didn't last for you. >> my window was in my 20s, and i had my program and a great career. then the phone stops ringing. >> when the phone stops ringing, kevin finds a new line of work. he takes a job as a doorman in 1983 at the posh hotel bel-air and keeps it for the next 27 years. >> then the hotel closed and they went for remodeling and i was praying for a job and then the letter [chuckles] -- i refer to it as "the letter" -- comes. this is the original letter from the attorney saying, "you don't know me, but i represent ray e. fulk. he was a hermit and a hoarder and a farmer here in illinois." and don behle, who wrote the letter, goes on to say, "if i got a letter like this, i would think it to be a scam." >> turns out kevin once worked with the second beneficiary in ray fulk's will -- fellow actor peter barton. >> i did a movie in 1980 called

"hell night," kind of a campy horror story, but became friends with most of the cast members, including peter. >> peter now lives in upstate new york. so, you really don't hear much about kevin until you find out somebody died and you're the only two "friends" he names in his will. >> from the moment i opened that up and i saw kevin's name, i was like, "somebody's scamming us." >> the two men discuss what to do next. >> i said, "peter, i believe it. i believe it, and i'm going with it for gusto." >> i took the other side of it completely, going, "kevin, if it's too good to be true, it probably is." >> but peter agrees to make the 900-mile trip to lincoln, illinois, to find out for both of them. peter's home video begins to unravel the mystery. >> behind the silos, ray had a grave site with all his dogs. look at this, all the pet cemetery. queenie, 3-21-77.

10-15-87. '82, '80, '94. buddy, fred, fad. wow. a lot of dogs. >>he pet cemetery abuts 167 acres of prime soil, tillable for corn and soybean... >> wow. that's a lot of farmland out there. >> ...all this a gift from a man they never met. so, who was this guy? and why would he do this? >> dennis and nitsie gleason live a stone's throw away from ray fulk. how would you describe, in a word, ray? >> weird. >> i'd say weird, goofy. >> eccentric. "whoa." >> eccentric maybe for good reason. the neighbors explain that ray eugene fulk, born in 1941, was an only child and an outcast

at school, bullied by classmates and often by his own mother. >> his mother was real mean. i think he got along with his father more, but ray would tell me these different things that his mother would do to him. >> for example? >> well, she'd leave him out of the house. he couldn't come in the house for a while. he'd have to stay outside. he said he'd go sleep with the puppies. >> mm-hmm. never really had a friend. >> the only persons he trusted was, you know, his dogs and me and bob pharis. >> bob had known ray since they were teenagers. >> he probably had some type of a learning disability. and in today's education, they would have caught that, but they just didn't have that type of thing back there in the '50s. so, i think ray fell through the cracks. >> when ray graduates from high school in 1958, he joins the army.

he loves it, bob says, but his mother lobbies to get him an early release to help on the farm. >> it's too bad 'cause i think ray would have been better off if he would have remained in the army and away from mom and probably his life would have turned out a whole lot differently. >> in the diaries he kept for decades, ray compares himself to a wolf, "the most maligned, least understood animal," he writes, "that shares my same distrust of humanity. >> you know, he was very intelligent, and he and i would even joke about it. i said, "you know, ray, there's a fine line between genius and idiot." he'd say, "yeah," and he said, "i cross that two or three times a day." >> in 1981, ray's mother dies. for the next 15 years, ray shares the farmhouse with his dad. in the late 1990s, his father is in poor health and doesn't have much time left. ray confides in his friend bob that he suspects some of his

cousins are after the farm and his dad's investments. ray fears they're trying to have him declared mentally incompetent to take control of his father's estate. >> he was telling me about it, and i said, "ray, you need an attorney." >> ray'seen usg s father attorney, but he now suspects that lawyer is in cahoots with his cousins and scheming against him. >> and that's when i mentioned don behle. >> and he told me about his dad and the problems he was having with cousins wanting to take over the control and care of his father. >> did ray say why he wanted his family to not benefit from the estate? what did they do to him? >> i think the fact that any relative went to an attorney to take away his father was the act that he thought was treacherous. >> don assures ray he'll help. then in 1997, ray's father dies. so ray makes one more trip to

lincoln to amend his will and name don behle as his executor. >> he no longer wanted the executor that he had previously named because those were the attorneys that had irritated him by talking to his other family members. >> were you surprised? >> it seemed to me that, even though ray was odd, he knew his relatives, didn't like them. >> but don knows full well that's not always the end of it, especially in situations like this, where a hermit, described as weird, eccentric, and goofy, bequeaths a family fortune to a couple of complete strangers. but you have to give relatives a chance to come forward, right? >> well, yeah. i mean, the relatives have the opportunity to contest a will. they have six months to do that. >> how'd that go? that's next -- and more. do you ever feel guilty taking an inheritance from a stranger? >> here's another quiz question for you. which of these pampered pets was willed the largest inheritance?

fashion designer alexander mcqueen's bull terriers, king of pop michael jackson's chimp, or real-estate mogul leona helmsley's maltese? the answer in a moment. today we're gonna -hi. be comparing the roll-formed steel bed of the chevy silverado to the aluminum bed of this competitor's truck. awesome. let's see how the aluminum bed of this truck held up. wooooow!! -holy moly. that's a good size puncture. you hear 'aluminum' now you're gonna go 'ew'. let's check out the silverado steel bed. wow. you have a couple of dents. i'd expect more dents.

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>> so, which pampered pet received the largest inheritance? it's "c." leona helmsley left her beloved maltese -- trouble -- a $12-million trust in 2007. [ dog barks ] >> two former actors get the surprise of a lifetime in 2012 when ray fulk, a man they've never met, leaves them a large inheritance. >> but it's no done deal yet. ray's relatives have six months to challenge the will, and ray

long suspected that some of them pegged him as mentally incompetent. you n't k of it as taking it away from other relatives of his? >> absolutely not because ray's story is a heartbreaking story caused by pain and loneliness. so, for ray to have looked on myself and peter with this incredible gift, this is doing exactly what ray wanted. ♪ >> exhibit "a," kevin brophy says -- ray's scrapbook, dedicated to his starring role in "lucan." >> "these are the chronicles that follow the young wolf man in the world of man in his quest to find his roots." and it's all hand-put-together. and the picture that i sent him -- there's the photograph. >> and he wrote, "this scrapbook would not be complete without a corresponding section devoted to kevin brophy." >> he really, truly was a fan. >> maybe, but kevin admits this is the stuff restraining orders are made of. >> you know, it could have come back as a stalking, horrible nightmare, but ray was just

very, very introverted and loved television. and thank goodness for "lucan." >> but an inheritance? >> that's a strange inheritance and a stranger story still. >> okay, with the scrapbooks, the wolf pictures, the dog cemetery, you get ray fulk's affinity for "lucan." but what's up with the soap-opera doc? peter barton finds the answer in ray's letters. >> i started reading these letters, and i'm like, "wow. this guy is talking about astral projecting. he's talking about things that my character did." >> not barton's "young and the restless" character, but in his role in "the powers of matthew star," a 1982 series about an alien with supernatural abilities. >> it's like he was searching and he saw matthew star and he went, "oh, my god," you know? >> a little crazy? >> i think he was a really smart guy who kind of built a cage around himself and then couldn't get out. that's what i wanted when i was doing "matthew star." i wanted to affect people like

ray. >> did you ask don, the lawyer, if ray had any other family that he might have given it to? >> for myself, it never really crossed my mind. >> you can leave anything to anyone, but you have to give relatives a chance to come forward, right? >> well, yeah. i mean, the relatives have the opportunity to contest aill. they have six months to do that. >> how'd that go? >> nobody contested it. >> so kevin brophy and peter barton are now the proud owners of 167 acres of corn and soybean fields. but is that the end of this strange inheritance story? not by a country mile. >> two hollywood characters come to town that ray never mentioned, and they're here to leave with cash. >> we were just a little leery about who they were that was getting the money. >> and exactly how much money? that's coming up, plus this. did ray save your life? >> ray indeed saved my life. ♪

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> a fan leaves two former actors -- kevin brophy of l.a. and peter barton of new york -- a surprise inheritance that includes 167 acres of farmland in central illinois. what do you say to yourself? "what the heck am i gonna do with this? can i sell it?" could you sell it? >> peter had kind of thought of being a farmer there in illinois. but, no, i can't do winters, and i can't do farming. >> so the heirs ask ray's attorney, don behle, to sell it and see what they get. plenty of locals want ray's fertile land. the highest bid -- $800,000. add in another $500,000 in cash and stocks, and the entire estate is worth $1.3 million. in lincoln after the sale, peter and kevin headline a fundraiser in ray's name for a local humane society.

>> ray had a very strange upbringing and an odd life, but he loved his dogs. he loved his dogs probably more than himself. >> two hollywood characters come to town that ray never mentioned, and they're here to leave with cash. >> we were just a little leery about who they were that was getting the money, but after meeting them, they were two down-to-earth, good people that nitsie and i -- we just loved them to pieces. >> how did the money change your life? >> that's been a godsend because when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door. one year later, i was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. this was a devastating diagnostic for me in this world of healthcare where a doctor visit could be $200. it has certainly helped alleviate any concern i have for myself and my other extended family. >> did ray save your life? >> ray indeed saved my life. ♪ >> today kevin is still working

as a doorman. his new door has another swanky address. >> i am on rodeo drive. i have an incredible suit i get to wear. >> thank you. >> i have met so many people, i'm thinking of running for the mayor of beverly hills. >> so, the acting didn't make you rich. did the inheritance make you rich? >> the inheritance gave me confidence that i'm safe. maybe i want to say to ray, "thank you, ray. you made me safe." >> peter is currently working on a screenplay about this entire strange inheritance story. and who knows? it may get these two retired actors back into pictures, two lives touched forever by a man they'd never met. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story

you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com >> was he a lifelong hoarder or a shrewd collector? the answer lies inside this salvage yard filled with rusty old cars. >> did you know how many cars grandpa had? >> the locals say it's a