Cold Case Files - I Thought He Was Killing My Son

Episode Date: April 20, 2024

After their California home was invaded over a case of mistaken identity Darren and Chastity’s ordeal only worsens as their 11 year old son arrives and joins their captivity. Ryan works in a train yard in Pennsylvania, when the breaks fail on multiple gasoline tankers Ryan has to act quick to stop an explosion that could spread toxic fumes for miles. Julie is a realtor in Florida showing a group of listings to who she believes is a potential buyer but in fact is a convicted criminal with a plan to assault not only Julie but female relaters as a whole. Progressive: Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Viator: Download the Viator app now and use code VIATOR10 for 10% off your first booking in the app! Find the perfect travel experience for you! Do more with Viator. 

This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. To me, it was like he was killing my son. It was a cry and a scream together that I had never heard from either one of my kids. Real people. She said, look out, and I turned around, and I went to get out of bed, and there was a guy standing over me with a wave and a baseball bat, a looming baseball bat over my head. Who faced death?

If I'm not incinerated by the gasoline in these runaway cars, I'm going to die an even worse death of chlorine exposure. And lived to tell how. Now I've tried to escape twice, So he knows he can't trust me. He knows I'm going to fight him tooth and nail. What's he going to do with me? This is I Survived. It's July 2004 in Madera, California.

Darren and Chastity Baker's house is in a semi-rural area. It was a weekend, and we had went to my sister's house. We basically just had a barbecue, enjoyed ourselves, and then went home that evening. My husband went to bed first. He went to bed probably around 11.30 or 12. We slept with the TV on in our room because we had our kids when we always had the TV on. So I just remember waking up, and I happened to turn over and notice a man, dark. I couldn't make out his face because, you know, all the light I had was just the TV, and it was kind of away from the bed.

I thought, am I dreaming or am I not dreaming? And, you know, when I looked over, like, you know, I seen this man standing there. I seen something shining like a glare, like metal. And I just seen, was able to yell out to my husband, watch out, look out. She said, look out. And I said, I was like thinking, what? And I turned around and I went to get out of bed and there's a guy standing over me with a wave and a baseball bat, aluminum baseball bat over my head. I mean, I didn't have time to do

anything. I had time to move and barely, you know, sit up, and he had hit me. I didn't have time to do anything. And that's what I was thinking of, man. I'm going to try to fight with this guy. I had no chance. I didn't have a chance. Darren's skull was fractured, and he had a large gash on his head. The attacker made Chastity cover her head with the sheet and continued to beat Darren. I think he kicked my teeth out or punched my teeth out, my front teeth. Nose was broke. He had my husband on the ground, and I could hear him kicking my husband.

And I could hear my husband, you know, yelling, hurting. And I could hear him, you know, he's telling my husband, Raymond, calling my husband, Raymond. And my husband's telling him, I'm not Raymond. The attacker was a member of the Nazi lowrider gang. He was just yelling at me saying, you're part of the Mexican mafia, and I'm going to, where's the gun at? And you're calling me Raymond. And I'm like, I'm white, and I'm not in the Mexican mafia, and my name's not Raymond.

And he kept just yelling at us and saying, you know, you're going to get it, and where's the gun? I was just on the ground laying there just, I was thinking, oh, my, what could I do? I couldn't move. I was laying on the bed, face down, with the sheet over my head. He started asking where the gun was.

He was asking for a Smith-Wesson. He was sat on a Smith-Wesson asking us, where's the Smith-Wesson? Where's the gun? Where's the gun? Where's the gun? And we're telling him, we don't have a gun. The attacker ransacked the bedroom, searching for a gun.

He was very angry and just thinking, you know, he's going to kill us. And laying in the bed thinking, you know, he's going to come and hit me next, and I'm going to be dead. He tells me, is there anybody else in the house? Then it seemed as soon as he said, is there anybody else in the house, my son walks. I can hear my son say, mom.

And so the first thing I tell my son is, don't look, Dustin. Cover your eyes. Because this whole time that we're in the room and this is happening to us, he's telling me, don't look at me. Don't look at me. Dustin is their 11-year-old son. The guy told him, go over on the bed with your mom.

So he went over on the bed with my wife, and she covered his head up. And I was thinking to myself, oh, he's going to kill us. I mean, if he was here to rob us, he could have just robbed us and took this stuff and left. But he was there looking for something. I was just thinking the whole time, this guy's probably going to kill us.

At that point, when my son got into the bed with me, I totally, like, snapped out of fear for myself, you know, and my husband. And I'm thinking, I start thinking, oh my gosh, I need to keep my son calm so that he doesn't hurt us and he doesn't hurt my son. And my son was petrified. It seemed when my son walked into the room,

the intruder, his whole demeanor kind of changed. He went from being very aggressive and angry to a little bit more calm. I just remember my son did most of the talking in the bed, telling him, giving him ideas to tie us up, you know? Like, just put us in the closet, lock the door, tie us up with shoes, their shoelaces. It seemed like the more that my son talked to him,

the, you know, his tone of voice just changed. It was like more from initially was angry to, you know, like a moderate tone to just like a regular talking. The attacker told the family to move to a bathroom near the front door. But my husband could not get up because he was, you know, obviously injured. And so he tells me, you better get your husband, you know, up. You better help him. Darren had a fractured skull, concussion, a broken nose, and had lost several teeth. I was in and out of consciousness. I'm sure I was, you know, for a while.

I would hear stuff, and then I'd black out a little bit. I remember my wife trying to get me up, and I told her, I can't. I can't do it. I can't walk. And she kept yelling at me, you got to get up. You got to get up. And she pulled me up, and I remember going walking to the bathroom real slow.

And just it hurt so bad, I couldn't even stand hardly. And we made it to the bathroom. And as soon as they opened the door to the bathroom, I fell down on the ground right there. The whole time, I was thinking, I was just thinking, this guy is nuts. I thought he was going to kill us. It is four hours since the initial attack.

I felt real weak and sick and just blood running down the side of my face. Plus, my teeth were gone, my nose was broken, and I had blood just dripping all down my face. And I knew I had a big wound on my head because I could feel the cold air hitting it up there. My husband was in and out of consciousness at this point. And it seemed like we would almost

have to shake him to breathe because he was so shallow. And I felt worse because my son was in there with us. And having my son see the blood, I couldn't hide it. There was nowhere to hide it because we were so crammed together. The attacker continued to rob and ransack their home. He ends up coming to the bathroom door and asking me about my computers.

He just asked me to come out. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, you know, this guy's going to rape me or something. I told her, I think, I don't want her to go. But I knew she was going to go. He made that clear that he wanted her to go. And I was thinking, oh, man, he's going to rape her. And there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm sitting here tied up, head bleeding. I mean, I'm a mess. I can't move. My head's killing me. I'm just laying there. I can't do nothing. It's helpless, the most helpless. I can't do nothing.

And I just remember looking at the ground, at the floor. Come walk out of the bathroom, and he's behind me. And he's just telling me, you know, don't look at me, don't look at me. Either he's going to hit me in the back of the head with something and kill me, he's going to rape me, or, you know, I don't really know what this guy is going to do to me. Chastity was forced to disconnect her two computers so they could be removed. The attacker then phoned an accomplice to help him rob the house. I remember walking towards the bathroom and then I'm thinking,

okay, you know, he didn't do anything to me. I'm okay. The intruders began removing everything of value from the house. He would come to the bathroom and just, you know, different times and check on my husband to make sure he was breathing. And each and every time he would open the door, we'd have to look down or, you know, make sure we weren't looking at him. He would lift up the towel on my head and look at my cut and say, you know, push my back and say, oh, he's still breathing, he's okay,

and just throw the towel back on my head and walk out. He would come in, I think, every hour and check on me. It had been over seven hours since Darren's skull was fractured. He comes, cracks the door, and he tells my son that he wants him to come out of the bathroom. At first, I think I told him no, you know, and he said no, you know, he needs to come out of the bathroom. And I'm thinking, OK, do I try to fight with him? I remember saying, I hope he's not going to kill my son. He better, I hope not.

He's not going to kill my son, not my son. Although reluctant, Dustin remained calm and went with the attacker. My son gets up and he goes outside the door with them and they close the door. And I remember listening, putting my head up against the door to listen to see what I could hear, listen to see if I hear anything. And I just hear them walking away. Just, you know, the voices just walking, fading away. And I knew they had to have gone towards the bedrooms.

Chastity listened as the attacker told Dustin he was going to give him a truth serum. And he told my son, I'm going to give this to your dad. But if I give it to your dad, it's going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to give him one. I'm going to kill him. Or you can take it for your dad, and it's just truth serum. So it's either give it to your dad and kill your dad,

or I'm going to give it to you. So my son went ahead and told him yes. 11-year-old Dustin was injected in the arm with methamphetamine. And that's the point that I heard my son screaming and crying. To me, it was like I thought he was killing my son. It was a cry and a scream together that I had never heard.

Who knows what's happening to him, and I'm sitting there knocked out or laying on the ground, tied up, bleeding, and can't help him. I mean, what can I do? I can't do nothing. It was just terrible. That was the worst feeling of my life. I hear my son, and I hear this guy telling my son, okay, that was fun, huh?

Everything, that was fun, right? Everything's okay, right? You know, kind of guiding my son, the conversation, you know, how he wanted the conversation to go. And I hear my son, you know, composure. I don't hear him crying no more. Calm, saying, yeah, that was okay. That was fun. Yeah, that was fun. The intruder forced Dustin to load his family's property into a waiting vehicle. He then put Dustin back in the bathroom. He seemed calm. He seemed normal, just like nothing, you know, just normal.

And, you know, I asked him, is he okay? Because, you know, I heard him screaming, crying. And he started motioning something about his arm and his shot. But, you know, we were whispering, so I couldn't, didn't realize really what he was saying. I didn't see any bruises. You know, I didn't see nothing on his face, no cuts. And he starts telling me, mom, there's a red dot

on the side of the wall. He has a laser gun. And I'm thinking, or, you know, one of those guns with the scope. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh. And I'm telling Dustin, you know, one of those guns with the scope, and I'm thinking, oh my gosh. I'm telling Dustin, I don't see anything. I don't see anything. And he's adamant. He's like, no, there's a red dot.

He has a gun. He has a gun. My son kept saying, he's got a gun. I think he's got a gun with one of those, one with a scope on it, a red dot. My wife kept telling him, we don't see no dot. I can see my son now acting really weird and strange, you know, chewing, his mouth moving like he's chewing gum, nervous. The attacker held the family captive for all of that day.

His accomplice continued to drive carloads of the family's property to another location. The thieves stole food, clothing, electronic equipment, and sports memorabilia. Throughout that time I'm in the bathroom, I can hear the car leaving, and then some time would go by, and then the car would come back, you know, several times. I don't really remember much of that, truthfully,

because at that point, I was like, I was getting pretty sick. I was like, I would probably sleep for a while and wake up. And I told my wife I was getting real weak. And I said, I had to sit up, actually. And I was throwing up right there while they're sitting right there, probably from the blood loss or whatever.

And I was just concentrating on how we were going to get out of there. They remained in the bathroom into a second night. The guy had the air conditioner on probably 60 degrees, and it was real late at night. And I was trembling and shaking, and I kept telling my wife, I'm not going to last much longer. We need to get out of here.

We need to ask this guy just to leave so we can get out. The house had gone quiet, but the family was not sure if their attacker had left. They had been in the bathroom for over 24 hours. I go to the door, put my mouth against the door, and I'm, excuse me, excuse me. And I tell him, sir, sir, can I please have a blanket? And nobody answers. And I ask him again, can I please have a blanket? We're cold. Can we please have a blanket? And nobody answers. And I ask him again, can I please have a blanket? We're cold.

Can we please have a blanket? Because I wanted to be able to tell if somebody was there. So I decide I'm going to pull the door open and try to get away. And the door was locked. But she had pried it open and was yanking on it, and it busted open. And when she busted it open, she, like, was peeking her head out. And she would look, you know, one way and the other way. And there was nothing.

She would say, Mr., Mr., sir, is anybody here? Nothing. And she turned around and she says, I'm going to run to the back, to the sliding glass door, and I'm going to run out. So I remember in the dark, pitch dark, going down the hall, turning right into the den, and I ran to this back sliding door. I don't know how I unlocked it because I unlocked the door, opened the sliding door, and just ran as fast as I could. Chastity ran to her neighbor's house and called 911. And I hear a knock, a pound on the door. So I actually get up for the first time.

My son helps me up. We walk maybe two, three feet to the front door. And I see like three sheriffs. And all I do is fall down to the ground, and I'm laying there. I'm thinking, thank God, somebody's here. And they come in the house, and they're like, what's going on here? And we're trying to tell them, and by then it's over. We're safe.

Patrick Booth was captured two weeks after the home invasion. At the trial, Booth conducted his own defense, questioning the family in the witness box. He got to ask us stupid questions. We weren't allowed to ask him nothing. It was just, it was, it was the worst thing. That was the hardest part, was the testimony. I just wanted to jump off the stand and go wring his neck. Eleven-year-old Dustin faced his attacker twice in court and was awarded Witness of

the Year in California. He was a hero. He basically saved our lives. If it wasn't for him, he would have killed us. He told my son that, too. He goes, if you weren't here, I would have killed your mom and dad, but I'm not going to do it in front of a kid. Patrick Booth was sentenced to 48 years plus two consecutive life sentences.

I survived for my family. I survived for my kids and my husband. And I survived because of my son's strength. I'm going to visit my family in Florida this summer, and while I'm there, I want to find something great to do with my children and my nieces and nephews. On Viator, I found an incredible excursion that I am so excited to go on, an electric trike tour around the town. How fun does that sound? If you're looking for things to do this summer, Viator is a tool you can use to plan and book travel experiences around the world. The Viator app and website make it easy to explore 300,000 plus travel experiences so you can discover what's out there no matter where you're traveling or what you're interested in. Viator can help you plan better travel experiences. There are real traveler reviews

to get insider information from people who've already been on the experiences you're considering and free cancellation to help you plan for the unexpected. Plus, Viator offers 24-7 customer service so you know you'll get support at any hour if things aren't going as planned. Download the Viator app now and use code VIATOR10 for 10% off your first booking in the app. Find the perfect travel experiences for you. Do more with Viator these old masters. How did these artists take paint from a palette, arrange it on a canvas? I began to unlock the secrets. I was a storehouse of knowledge of how how to create an illusion, present it to an experienced expert, manipulate his mind, and convince him and bring him to the inevitable conclusion that the painting is genuine. We flooded the market with my paintings, and I couldn't believe what I did. I couldn't believe it. Then the dominoes

started falling, and eventually the FBI were led to my door. They uncovered a mountain of evidence against me. But they never actually got you. At this point, you've sold a lot. You've got like a million dollars in cash. You've sold one painting for $717,000. Why did it go away? Why did you never get indicted? How are we having this conversation? I guess that's the greatest story of all. To hear how Ken Pereni made millions in art forgery, dodged the mafia and the FBI, subscribe to The Jordan Harbinger Show and check out Episode 282 in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now.

It's December 2005 in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Ryan is working in the rail yard. He is directing the movement of rail cars carrying hazardous material to the top of the hill. We're taking cars from the inbound yard, rail yard, to my left, and we are breaking them apart into smaller groups to make up outbound trains. The tankers, when they got to the top of the hill, were to roll down the other side. Ryan was in a shack right next to the track at the top of the hill. The locomotives were just passing me, and they were pulling as hard as they could. The cars that they were pulling were all extra heavy cars. The bulk of what was in front of me was gasoline tankers.

They hold an awful lot of gasoline. I mean, we're talking about thousands and thousands of gallons of gasoline each. The locomotives pulled the six cars up into the first set of brake retarders where they were to be held. The brake retarders were rubber panels at the top of the hill. They were designed to clamp the rail cars, preventing them from rolling back down the hill. And these cars in front of me, preventing them from rolling back down the hill.

And these cars in front of me, as they're stretched out over the hill in the retarders, are not supposed to be moving. And after the locomotive cutaway, I could hear a very high-pitched squealing noise, which was the sound of the steel locomotive wheels moving, grinding against the steel parts of the brake retarders. They were failing. They're not going to hold the cars. And the cars began to roll back down the way that they are not supposed to go, back down the incline, completely run away,

all by themselves. I guess the first thought would be, where are they going to go? I just remember seeing the track that they're lined for, seeing a small gray tanker, and seeing the hazmat placard on the back of that tanker. It's the skull and crossbones. It's chlorine. Pure chlorine. The train was only 1,500 feet away from the collision with the chlorine tanker. They're gonna build up a lot of speed and they're going to plow into the chlorine car. I've got hundreds of thousands of gallons rolling free toward chlorine and a whole lot more

gasoline and I'm in a city. I'm in downtown Allentown. I'm surrounded by homes, communities. If they're not consumed by whatever massive explosion from the gasoline, they're going to have to contend with chlorine gas and ammonia in its purest form. I've only got a few seconds. If I'm going to do anything, I've got to do it now. The only way that is even conceivable to stop these cars at this point is to somehow get onto these cars as they're rolling by me, jump on, and apply a handbrake. And as all this is going through my head, a voice comes over the radio behind me on the wall

and I hear, you better get up there and get a break on there. You better get up there and put a break on. Brian had only seconds to get aboard the runaway carriages. He decided to leap onto one of the tanker's ladders to apply a handbrake. Brian had only seconds to get aboard the runaway carriages. He decided to leap onto one of the tanker's ladders to apply a handbrake. There's even more problems than that because it's the beginning of December. These cars are covered in ice, so I'm going to have to take a running leap onto an icy ladder. I've only got a few seconds, you know. If I'm going to do anything, I've got to do it now,

because these cars are going to roll by me very quickly I started looking as they're rolling where's my next shot gonna be where's the next ladder soonest ladder the first place I can get on and you know they're they're starting to pick up some speed now and they're moving well I'm'm going to try to do something. I have to try to do something. Way too many people are going to die. And they're going to die a horrible death. And I can't have that. I can't.

I figured I would hit the ladder. And because of the ice, just right in between the cars, I could cut in half or whatever but at this point so what i'm gonna die anyway so i did it i picked the next spot made the jump and i actually got onto the ladder i made it and um i scrambled up to the top of the brake platform and shot right over to the handbrake as fast as I could and applied it fully, turned the wheel clockwise and normally when you apply a handbrake fully what happens is the wheels of the rail car completely lock up and you'll see sparks coming up from the steel on steel contact and they come to a halt pretty quick um so i applied the handbrake fully and nothing happened.

And I was a little lost for that nanosecond in time. The handbrake is engaged by turning a wheel connected to a heavy steel chain. When that handbrake is applied fully, that steel chain is like a steel rod. It does not move. It's taut. And I look down at the chain, and it's dangling. It's just swaying in the breeze. Ryan is aboard a runaway train moments from collision with a tanker of pure chlorine.

In a desperate attempt to prevent a massive explosion, he is trying to apply a handbrake. The handbrake is engaged by a heavy steel chain. My next thought was, what else can I do? But when I turned around to look at the next car that I could jump to, the end of that car did not have a handbrake. The next car in line that I was going to jump to, the handbrake was on the other end of the car. And there's no way to get to that. There's just nothing else I can do.

You can feel the force that these things are moving with. And when they collide with another stationary object, I think I'd rather get off. So I got to the far end of the brake platform, got up as much speed as I could. And on the way out, on my way off this brake platform before I jump, I'm going to kick the chain. Maybe there's a stick, who knows, in the chain that'll come free.

I'm going to run, I'm going to jump. Before I jump, I'm going to kick the chain. Got my momentum up, started running off the brake platform of the tank car. As I passed the chain, I kicked it the side of my boot. But as my feet left the platform, making the jump away from the car, that was when I heard that zip.

The brake engaged. The linkage came taut. It was a very high-pitched noise. You could hear that. It's almost like time almost stops. And it's funny because when people do say that your life flashes before your eyes, yes, it really will.

And the speed at which it happens is incredible. I can remember, you know remember one of the billions of things that goes through your head. I can remember my daughter has spina bifida. She can't walk. She's basically paralyzed from the waist down. Her and I were dancing. There was a little song playing, and I picked her up,

and we were just twirling around. And I'll never get to do it again. I don't know what happened. I really have, I jumped. And that's the end of the tape for me. Ryan dove headfirst down a 12-foot stone embankment. And there was a small, there's a drainage creek there. And that's where I ended up, somewhere down at the bottom of the little hill there.

The runaway train collided with one of the stationary chemical tankers. But the handbrake had engaged and slowed the train. None of the tankers ruptured. I can only imagine it would have been a massive explosion. If I hadn't jumped on the car, no, I definitely would not have made it. The surrounding community, I mean, even just from the initial blast alone, would have been just wiped out, gone. Beyond that, beyond the immediate community within a few miles,

they would have to contend with the hazardous material, the gases, the chlorine. The casualties would have been terrible. Men, women, children. Gone. Entire city. Gone. Just gone. When Ryan was found, he had shattered bones in both his legs and sustained severe brain damage. This caused loss of motor skills, epilepsy, partial blindness, and deafness in one ear.

My goal in trying to stop those cars was to keep people alive. I would have never thought that I would have been even physically capable of doing some of the things. But once you take away that basic human thought, feeling, or instinct of the fear of death, once you take that away, it's incredible what people can do. I Survived is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising,

or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy, and you could save money But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you can be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts.

Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company & Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. See what's screaming all month long during Pluto TV's April Ghouls. Watch hauntingly good movies like Evil Dead, 30 Days of Night, and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Or holy water hits like The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Plus, Pluto TV has hundreds of channels with thousands of movies and TV shows available on live and on demand. Download the Pluto TV app on all your favorite devices and start screaming. I mean, streaming now. It's 2006 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Julie, a real estate agent, receives a call to view a property. I was a realtor and I got a call from a prospect to come and view a property that was one of my listings. So I told the gentleman that I could be there in about 20 minutes. So I got in my car and started driving. And on the way there, I was thinking about how

I was going to show the property. When I arrived, he was not there. And within a few minutes, he arrived. He was driving a four-door family car, well-groomed, well-dressed, nice-looking young man. He introduced himself as Chris Mann. Chris Mann was actually a convicted criminal named James Parcher. He was looking for a house that he could get into rather quickly, so his preference was a vacant home. But it wasn't quite the right house for him and he wanted to look at some

other properties. And he wanted to go immediately from that property to other properties. And I convinced him that, no, I had to go back to my office, which is our protocol. So that's what we did. We went back to my office. We picked five properties to go and view. They viewed homes together for over four hours. In the last house he seemed very interested in. As a matter of fact, he had me call the listing agent and ask if there were wood floors under the carpet, the kind of questions that a serious buyer would ask. We were going to measure a wall for a piece of furniture that he said specifically he wanted to have in that home. So he was in the kitchen looking at the laminated countertops,

kind of complaining about those, and said, let's measure that wall. And I was in that bedroom. So I was getting my measuring tape out of my pocket when I heard those two hard, fast footfalls that you expect when someone is getting the momentum for something. He hit me on the back of the head with a gun, and I went flying probably about 12 feet.

I went to the opposite end of the room, and I came right out of my shoes, and my nose hit the carpet. And I didn't know what quite was going on, but I knew I was in trouble. And my first thought was, oh, God, please help me. I know that I don't know what to do. He was instantly on top of me with his knee in my back.

And he was pulling my arms around behind my back. And I wasn't fast enough for him. Julie didn't realize that the attacker had broken her right arm. And he pulled my hands behind my back and tied them with cable ties, zip ties. On the outside, I was very calm and quiet. On the inside, my thoughts were racing,

and they were horrible things like, this is the last time that I'm going to be here. I can't believe I'm never going to see my mother again. And my attacker was also very calm. He just said things like, be quiet or I'll kill you. Don't say anything. Don't try to escape. He was just talking like in his normal voice.

I actually asked him, is this a rape, a robbery, or a murder? And he said to me, this is a robbery. But I knew that he was lying because if this was just a robbery, all he had to do was take the gun out at any point and point it at me. And I knew that we still had a long way to go through whatever it was he had planned for me. The attacker took Julie's car keys and went outside to steal possessions from her vehicle. My head was telling me that maybe I should submit, but my instinct kicked in and I knew that I could not do nothing. So I pulled my hands out of the zip ties, and I don't know whether I broke them or if my hand just pulled through them or what,

but I was free. And I hopped up, and I ran to the door, and I locked it. And I went to the window, and I pulled the blind up, and the windows opened side to side instead of up and down. And they were actually the same windows in my own home. And yet I couldn't figure out the window lock combination to unlock them. And as I was frantically standing there trying to figure

it out and thinking to myself, this is silly. Why can't I do this? He had entered the room again. He hit me on the head again. And I went down. And he pulled me up by my hair. So I was on my knees with him holding me by my hair with a knife up against my throat.

And he wanted my jewelry. And he said, take all your jewelry off. And if you can't get it off, I'll cut it off. So I was removing my rings, and he said, I want your ATM numbers, and they better be right. And I will know because you're coming with me. So I gave him my ATM numbers. I didn't care. I would have given him anything.

He was dragging me from the master bedroom to one of the smaller bedrooms by my hair, and I was sort of on my knees, and it hurt really bad. And I knew that it hurt really bad, but I didn't care. He dragged Julie into a smaller bedroom where he threw her onto the floor. And he had his knee on my back, and he was fumbling for something, and I didn't know what it was. I just knew he was having a hard time with whatever it was he was trying to do, and he had to put the gun and the knife down.

So he put the knife down on my left side, and he put the gun down on my right side. So I reached over and I grabbed the gun. I wasn't sure that I could kill him, but I was sure that I could shoot him. I had it in my hand, and I went to straighten my hand up, and I was just amazed that my hand didn't work. I couldn't straighten my hand up.

It just wouldn't function. I had no idea why. It didn't even hurt. It just wouldn't function. I had no idea why. It didn't even hurt. It just didn't work. And in my amazement and confusion, he was able to knock it out, and I couldn't keep a hold of it either. I had no strength in my hand, so it was very easy for him to knock the gun all the way across the room. As her attacker went to retrieve the gun, Julie spotted something lying on the floor. And I thought, boy, I don't know what that is, but it's his, and it may be the only piece of evidence

that they're gonna have when they find my dead body, so I need to get that. I reached over and grabbed it, and I didn't look at it, and the closet door was open right behind me, and I put it in the closet, never knowing what it was. I just put it in that closet and I thought well they'll find that and in true CSI fashion they'll figure out who this man is from whatever that is and I just felt like I had accomplished something by doing that. Julie had hidden his roll of duct tape in the closet.

He turned around, he had the gun and the knife again, and was pointing them at me, trying to decide what to do, and I thought, well, now I've tried to escape twice. So he knows he can't trust me, he knows I'm going to fight him tooth and nail. What's he going to do with me? With no duct tape, the attacker had no way of restraining Julie. I thought, well, if he doesn't know what he's going to do with me, maybe I better come up with some suggestions. So I knew that closet was behind me and the door was open.

So I started pleading with him, please just put me in that closet and leave me. I will stay there. and the door was open. So I started pleading with him, please, just put me in that closet and leave me. I will stay there. I will count till two minutes is up out loud, and you can hear me, and you can get away. And I started scooting on my behind into that closet myself, and he just had this look like he didn't know what to do

either like he was trying to come up with a better option on his own and nothing was coming to him so he was just letting this one happen once I got myself into the closet I sort of thought better and thought well that might have been a silly move on my part because if he was a little apprehensive about shooting me, maybe it will be easier for him. Once that door's closed, he can shoot me right through that closet door. So I was very fearful once I was in the closet that he would shoot me right through the closet door. Julie told the gunman that she would give him two minutes to get away. And I was counting really loud, just one, two, three, and then it was time. I'd counted for two minutes, and I thought, I gotta open this

door and see what's out there. And I kind of fiddled around with the lock, and I figured it out, and I opened it, and I looked towards the door, and he wasn't there. So I hopped up and ran over and locked it. And I went to the window and amazingly, first try, I was able to unlock the window and slide it open, push the screen out and just bailed. Just fell out the window as fast as I could. Julie ran to the house next door and got the residents to call 911. An ambulance arrived soon after. Julie's right arm was broken, her knees severely damaged, and her head badly bruised. James Parcher was arrested 10 weeks later with Julie's belongings in his possession.

Police also found a manifesto outlining Parcher's plan to kill other female realtors. I survived because my natural will to live was stronger than his conviction to rob me or murder me or whatever his plan was for me that day. I still miss my wedding ring every day. Other than that, there's nothing that he took from me.

Thank you for listening to I Survived.