suspected of cheating. a letter was sent by the university provost to faculty members about the allegations. students in a number of classes are being contacted. that's how fox reports this saturday, march 28, 2015. i'm heather childers, thank you for watching. "strange inheritance" hosted by jamie colby starts now. >> i am on side of he leads the most famous charge in american history. >> i'm standing on the site of pickett's charge. >> it cost him hundreds of men but it made him immortal. >> he leaves his descendents with a suitcase full of heirlooms. >> you want to look? >> i would. >> then a fast-talking conman comes to town. >> he dressed well, he was very glib of tongue. >> forcing the general's heir into battle of his strange inheritance. >> what was your reaction? >> i was pissed. it dawned on me that i had been truly ripped off.

>> i'm jamie colby. today i'm in wilmington, north carolina. it's known for its gorgeous beaches and great surfing, but it was also the last confederate port city to fall during the civil war it is fitting i'm here to meet an heir whose han says or the became famous in defeat at the high watermark of the confederacy. >> my name is george edward pickett, v, i'm the great great grandson of general george e. pickett of gettysburg fame and i never knew exactly what that would bring to my family, fame, fortune or dishonor. >> george, who goes by his middle name ed invite misto his home hi, ed. >> hi, jamie. >> when the 59-year-old isn't working as a surfing instructor,

ed enjoys doing yoga and playing guitar. it's a far cry from his famous great-great grandfather who fought at gettysburg. growing up did your family ever discuss that you had a connection to that battle? connection to that battle? i was not that interested as a little kid. >> some people said, didn't he lose, wasn't he a loser? that is the way a lot of history books talked about, pickett's charge. >> did you bury your head. >> i did that one time, i didn't know enough to defend him. >> someone that knows a lot about general doing that one time. i didn't know enough to defend him. >> someone who does know a lot is civil war historian earl coates. i meet him on the gettysburg battlefield. battlefield. pickett's charge. he c >> you certainly are.

this is one of the iconic sites of the civil war. >> what was pickett's's wate contribution? >> general pickett to that timet was a certainly known as a confederate commander but after the charge he was known the n world over. >> pickett serves under general james longstreet in july, 1863 here at gettysburg in the army of northern virginia, commanded by general robert e. lee. >> general lee was looking for a great victory on union soil. great victory on union soil. l a high ground. after twottac days of failing t break through, lee orders a controversial attack -- ange assault on the center of the union line. general picketts' troops are te assigned to break through the et middle. we're on the 's confederate side. >> yes,visi in fact, you're mov ho pretty much along the ground that pickett's division came across. you'll see how the ground slopes

away here. then you start up a steady slope. the reunion cannon along the whole ridge line. they're high, they're elevated. they can see what's coming and g they can sweep the ground ine. front of them. >> they had the zblej they had it and they used it. ebel >> pickett's men advanced. l the unionik guns mowed down the rebels. what did the scene look like f after? >> well, this field that you're >> well, this field that you're scenee of it was a total devastation. >> earl reads mecoun firsthand accounts of the bloodshed. "on one part of the field, the i dead lie almost as thick as thec could and men with heads shot off, men shot in two and men shot to pieces as hardly can beg recognizable as any part of a man." >> it'she a turning point in th war. never again woulderri the southt mount anhe invasion of union

territory. was that the high watermark? >> that's the high watermark.cy from that point on the fortunesa of the confederacy started to o wane. rolina >> just knowing that pickett's d charge is a disaster for ed imr charge is a disaster for ed imr the 1960s. eres >> i had other interests that seemed to be more important to me at the time. >> heold certainly has no inter in this old suitcase of familiary loom family a heirlooms that his familye his inherited. when his parentse to divorced hv father passed it to his mother a with instructions to hold on to it for ed.o tak this is the actual case?. >> this is the actual case. t you want to take a look?ns >> i really wood. >> okay. as far as you think ed could a tell, the suitcase only containd some boring old military-lookiny knickknacks, a cap, part of a uniform, some old documents. whatever. >> my mother would kind of say e

"there's this legacy you have. it's going to be yours one day.p and i would become b like, yeah, okay, can i go outside and playb >> whether he appreciates it or not, ed takes possession of the suitcase in the early '90s. it's his by family tradition at the first born pickett male. a after his 70-year-old mother used into an assisted living t facility. she warns her son to remove it e from the family home before ot someone steals it. t o >> i gotut it out of the closeti no didn't take the time right awayt to look through it.nd kind of opened it, looked at it and went, oh, okay, and closed e it and moved on. >> it winds up tucked away in a closet again, now at ed's housem but he has no time to play curator. >> i spent a lotff of time withc own children.nt that was more important than tc looking throughiv stuff. >> ed may not take much met interest, but certain people in the civil war collecting world m

the civil war collecting world m rumors spread that a metal case full of general pickett epte artifacts is still in the family's possession in north m carolina. in september, 1995, ed gets a call from a guy named russell h pritchard in philadelphia. pritchard says he's an antiquesa appraiser looking for artifacts to buy for a new civil war ndof museum being built in be harrisburg, pennsylvania. >> i was a little bit standoffish because i didn't believe him. may >> a few weeks later, a letter p arrives. >> i had ard letter from the mau of harrisburg. saying?isburg. >> russ pritchard is the official representative of the d national civil war museum in the city of harrisburg. >> did you get a letter from thj mayor because you asked for credentials?ng you >> no. >> it just arrived. >> that's exactly right. >> next thing you know, us are pritchard arrives uninvited in wilmington and boy is he persistent. >> he wanted to be my new new

best friend.d he followed me m arounde like a puppy. helped me carry dry wall to a construction site. he sat on the beach with my children while my wife and i d a went surfing.w he kept asking "can i see the artifacts?" >> ed finally fam agrees to shoh pritchard what's inside that old family suitcase. the next few hours are a revelation for ed. that old cap is called a keppie and it was worn a by general , pickett at gettysburg. there's his bloodstained uniform sleeve, personal letters, photos, his military sash and wn this, pickett's own hand-drawn map of the gettysburg battlefield. >> he was very knowledgeable, he no what everything was. a >> tell me about the reaction oo was pritchard's face. n >> he was delighted. it's like he found a gold mine and he said "i'm prepared on behalf of the mayor to make you an offer."nder >> who did you feel he represented? your interests or the museum's

interests? >> as i understood it, he was an appraiser standing if the stimat middle. that's what he said. the a that he could not overestimate s or underestimate the value of it. >> russ comes up with an offer to buy most of the context of the case -- $87,500. he now it's ed who thinks he's struck gold. >> i thought, wow, $87,500 is ai lot of money to me. . >> did it look fair? he >> seemed fair to me. a it was more money than i'd ever gotten in my life. . depa >> ed happily accepts >> ed happily accepts and signs away the items. pritchard immediately departs g with the pickett artifacts. his with the pickett artifacts. his great-great grandson is in for the shock of his life when he. finds out what eventually e happens to his family heirlooms. >> all lies. he just lied to me completely.ow >> that's next. r >> but alsfirst, our strange inheritance quiz question.

how many generalsly were killedr mortally wounded at gettysburg? was it nine, 21 or 40? the answer in a moment. it's the purple pill, the #1 prescribed acid blocking brand, available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection.

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>> how many generals were killed or mortally wounded at how many generals were killed or mortally wounded at gettysburg? it's a, nine. five confederate, four union. no other battle claimed as many jennifers.

in the fall of 1995 in wilmington, north carolina. ed pickett, great-great grandson of con federal general george pickett is thrilled to complete the sale of some of his family heirlooms to antiques appraiser and buyer us are pritchard. >> the total amount was $87,500, which seemed like an awful lot. more than i had made in a couple years. >> the items had been in the family for generations. now the artifacts, including the general's cap, blood-stained sleeve, and his had-drawn map of the gettysburg battlefield are to be showcased at a new civil war museum in harrisburg, pennsylvania. did you talk to at least one other dealer? -to-kind of get a sense of what you had and what it was worth? >> no. he told me he was working for the city and that his job was to appraise it accurately.

>> three years later in the summer of 1998, ed accepts an invitation to a dinner and he's introduced to historian earl coates. >> i knew he was an expert in clothing. i asked him how much would a keppie be worth. >> it stunned me. i said "you mean the general's?" he said "yeah." whoa. >> and of course at that moment the room got very silent. he said "well, it could be worth a lot of money, $200,000, $250,000" just for the keppie alone. i said "that's more than i got for everything. >> but ed doesn't want to believe he's been swindled. he considers russ pritchard a friend. >> you trusted him so much you let him babysit your infant. >> that's correct. >> earl suggests that find out more. through his connections he discovered how much the museum

paid pritchard for the items. how much did they pay? >> they paid over $800,000. >> your reaction? >> i was astounded. i realized something was really wrong. >> then another shocker. he learns pritchard flat out stole some items, including family photos he kindly offered to restore for ed. >> russ pritchard told me he'd be glad to frame them for me and send them back no charge. >> no charge. >> he was just going to do it because he was a nice guy. >> wondering what they could be worth, ed takes them the highly regarded gettysburg antique store "the horse soldier." . he looks at the photograph and says "these are not real photographs, they're laser copies." >> upon closer examination, ed can see the lines from the laser printer. pritchard had reframed his photos with fakes. ed's embarrassment over making

a bad deal is now replaced with a new emotion -- anger. what was your reaction? >> i was pissd. it dawned on me that i had been really truly ripped off. >> ed decides it's time to take the fight to the enemy. that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another question. 3,903 confederate soldiers were killed at gettysburg. how many are buried in the national cemetery? is it 3, 901, seven, or zero in the answer in a moment. and stay. this is called non-24. and stay. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. every truck can climb a hill. every truck can haul a trailer. but not everyone can say they're

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it's b, seven. all soldiers were originally buried on the battlefield but in november, 1863, the national cemetery was reserved for those who died preserving the union. all confederates killed in action were reburied in the south, though seven remained by mistake. in the fall of 1998, ed pickett is stunned to learn the civil war artifacts he sold to appraiser russ pritchard for $87,000 are later resold by pritchard for $880,000. >> i was pissed because it's not really just me that had been ripped off but my children. tha lawyer. >> the family heirlooms belongs to his great-great grandfather, confederate general george pickett whose name is on? s now with the failed charge at

gettysburg. ed heads to a jury trial and is awarded $850,000. ed is thrilled at first. >> i received a jury verdict against russ pritchard for $800,000, of which i do not receive $800,000 because russ pritchard suddenly had empty pockets. i got $250,000 of which my attorney took his cut of the cash. >> how much? >> close to $100,000. >> but the law isn't done with russ pritchard yet. fbi agent robert whitman is paying very close attention as the case is playing out in court. >> he was very smooth, he dressed well, he was very glib of tongue. >> it turns out pritchard and his partners had been running the same kind of scam on others who had civil war artifacts. >> usually ten times was what they were selling material for after they appraised it for

one-tenth the value. >> ed's lawsuit helps whitman and the fbi build a criminal case. >> in the end there was a superseding criminal indictment that had more than 20 counts in it. >> faced with the mountain of evidence against him, richard strikes a deal in 2001 with prosecutors and pleads guilty. he's sentenced to a year in prison and $830,000 in restitution fees -- half of that sum is awarded to ed pickett. but -- >> russ pritchard doesn't seem to have the money. i think i've received a total of maybe $25,000, $30,000. >> are you furious? >> i'm pretty upset. >> look in the camera and tell russ pritchard what you want him to do. >> i would like for russ pritchard to actually pay the restitution but more over i would like the national civil war museum to do the right thing and return my items to me. >> so what about that? ed pickett's charge against the museum next. symptoms in minutes.

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jamie: in 2001 ticket wins the second legal battle over in 2001, ed pickett leads a civil war battle over his artifacts passed down from his great-great grandfather confederate general george pickett. but ed feels it's a hollow victory as those artifacts go on display at the newly opened national civil war museum in harrisburg, pennsylvania, whose mayor wrote pickett a letter endorsing the con man who'd swindled him. >> what's most unfortunate is that the city of harrisburg is quite willing to take items that were taken by fraud and keep them. >> fbi agent robert whitman investigated the case. >> ultimately, the museum paid $880,000 for these artifacts so they paid what they're supposed to. >> i think a better result would have been the city and the national civil war museum to say

"i am so sorry, let me give you your items back. and we are going to sue russ pritchard for defraughting us." >> the current museum ceo, wayne not motts believes the items are best suited at their current home. >> i think it's unfortunate but the pickett collection has been well taken care of here, it's been preserved and exhibited for the joy of thousands of people. >> civil war historian earl coates only hopes that ed pickett takes comfort in knowing that the enormous value placed on his great-great grandfather's things reflects histories verdict on his leadership and courage that july day in gettysburg. was pickett thinking along the way "what have i just done?" >> well, he was probably thinking "what i have been asked to do?"

but they were told to go and they went. >> reporter: pickett and his men failed, so did their cause. but it's attribute to their valor that gettysburg vets from north and south would return to this spot to do their part to bind up a nation's wounds. should ed take comfort in knowing that general picket was a soldier through and through, did as he's told even if he might have believed it was wrong? >> absolutely. it cost him hundreds of men but it made him immortal. >> wow. that's cool. >> there's some interesting stuff in here. >> it certainly made ed pickett better appreciate the heirlooms that remain that old suitcase. >> this is a copy of general pickett's report of the battle of williamsburg, may, 1862. >> look at the man writing. >> it's a lost art, i think. >> fabulous. what else? >> that's george pickett's hair. >> would you ever sell that will?

>> this right here? no, not anymore. >> this is quite a section of your family history. what will you do with it now? >> i'll probably give it to my children. we don't get to choose our names when we're born and we have to do whatever we can to live up to it, i've to some extent ducked that legacy. but also honored in the the same way. >> ed is not done fighting the battle over his strange inheritance. for one thing, he think there is should be a statue right here at gettysburg honoring his great, great grandfather and his men. in other ways, george edward picket v feels it's time to move on. when his own son was born he and his wife chose the name "doug." perhaps some names just need to rest in peace. 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 web site. attic. >> from dusty boxes forgotten in the attic emerged military artifacts handed down across five generations. >> the writing is unbelievable. i can't believe it's in such good shape. >> an heirloom that may be a long lost piece of history. >> i think this is a once in a lifetime find. i'd never seen one before. i don't expect to see one again. >> the value is rising with literally every fold. >> a war, a map, a mystery. >> i had a little momentary roller coaster there. >> will it lead to one family's hidden treasure?