Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Pregnant Woman Raped, HELD 5 YEARS IN PADLOCK GARAGE

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Is this real? Is this really happening in this day and age? Sadly, based on the court documents I'm just getting, it is real. A woman pregnant being held captive in a garage padlocked from the outside with nothing but a mattress, a commode that doesn't work. When she is found, she is emaciated down to 70 pounds. Her hair, quote, crusty, her clothes filthy, no shoes. Her body was, quote, pungent. I'm reading from the court documents because how long had she been in there being raped, sex attacked?

Starting point is 00:01:13 Five years? It's almost too much to take in that this could happen again. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. The story's almost too much to take in, but let's just start with the commander and the Houston PD, Michael Collins.

Starting point is 00:01:39 The female who was in the original report who was being held captive inside that room allegedly. We believe at this time that she was the only individual in that room. I don't know how many, this is the first time I've been at this location, so I'd hate to think there were any others that were in that circumstance as well, but it's something we will definitely follow up on. A 30-year-old female, I really can't release her name right now until I follow up with the investigative division and our public information officer.

Starting point is 00:02:12 Because, again, my main concern is, of course, I want to share information as freely as possible, but I also don't want to jeopardize anybody's safety. Jeopardize anyone's safety. Wow. Well, someone has already been padlocked into a garage, raped over and over and over for years. Did the neighbors not notice something was odd? Let's listen to more to the commander, Michael Collins. It's disturbing on a personal level. I, my heart goes out to the woman involved because she is a victim. But anybody with children or anybody with a family member who has

Starting point is 00:02:52 struggled in their life has been preyed upon by by those who are out for their their their own ends at the expense of others. It makes me sick as a human being. And I can tell you as a police department, we are here for the citizens of Houston. We're here for the community. And we're here to make sure that this individual and her family gets justice. Wow. What will justice look like in this case? If the allegations are true, this woman being held captive five years, raped repeatedly. I'm looking at the charge in this case. A known rapper apparently holds her, grabs her off the street, holds her, locked inside a garage.

Starting point is 00:03:47 She never saw anyone else in the residence. She could hear the defendant arguing with someone. On numerous occasions, the defendant would come out, rape her. When she would try to escape he would grab her, drag her back in, and lock padlocks repeatedly physically threatening to beat her, assault her, force her to use crack cocaine which is a nightmare in itself you can't get off of it. In addition to holding her against her will locked in the garage for at least five years, repeat sex acts on the victim against her will even when she begged not to. It goes on and on only

Starting point is 00:04:39 occasionally giving her chips and snacks for food, never actual food or a full meal. Again, thank you for being with us. I know these facts are hard to hear, but as you will see later in our program, this is by far not the first time a woman has been held captive in a garage, in a home, in a shipping container, in a basement, in all sorts of bizarre locations. Starved, beaten, threatened, and raped. That's what we're talking about. But this woman's ordeal at the hands of who we believe to be Lee Carter, a.k.a. Viper, the rapper, five years. Joining me in all-star panel, but first I want to go straight out to Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter.

Starting point is 00:05:34 Where did this happen? You know, I'm trying to get an idea of how this goes down in the neighborhood and nobody knows that there's a woman padlocked in the garage and the padlocks were on the outside of the garage. I know that much. But, you know, when you think about it, I'm going to go straight out to Phil Waters, former homicide detective for Houston PD, this jurisdiction, now president CEO of Kindred Spirits Investigations and Securities. And you can find him there, kindredspiritsinvestigations.com. Phil, you know, I'm blasting the neighbors, but you know what? If I happen to notice, which I may not, a padlock, you know, this big, three, five inches big on somebody's garage, that would not lead me to go bam on the garage to find out if somebody's in there.

Starting point is 00:06:25 Well, no. And I will tell you, this is this is not the circumstances in terms of the neighbors and so forth and so on. Not terribly surprising to me, given the area and the people that even if they suspect something's going on, I mean, the tendency is that they don't want to get involved in things. And so there's not necessarily – I don't blame the neighbors for not saying anything because they may not have known. They may have suspected some things. They know this guy. He's a rapper in Houston. So he's got some sort of fame attached to him I guess in a local

Starting point is 00:07:08 way. It's kind of reminding me a little bit of R. Kelly. Remember R. Kelly held all of those women in his several compounds and residences, domiciles. Karen Stark, the case of

Starting point is 00:07:24 R. Kelly shot everyone where multiple women were being held against their will in his various compounds and domiciles, horribly mistreated and being used as sex slaves. And somehow people tend to blame the victim like they wanted to be there. When this woman, I'm reading in the affidavit how her hair was, quote, crusty, filthy clothes, no shoes, her body. She stunk.

Starting point is 00:07:56 That is not willingly. And he had the woman strung out on crack cocaine. I mean, Karen Stark, I've been in so many crack houses. I can't even count them.'ve been in so many crack houses. I can't even count them. The people in there are like zombies. I remember one I went into, Karen Stark, I was looking for a witness in inner city Atlanta and there was no furniture in there. There was one sofa that had been burned up. It was upholstered with kind of a plaid material. It had been burned up. You could see into the foam rubber and down. And that was the only piece of furniture. And they

Starting point is 00:08:32 were actually cooking crack in the middle of the floor. Okay. In the floor, they had an open fire cooking crack in the apartment on the floor. And people were just laying around like zombies, sitting like zombies, strung out. This woman, out of her mind. But somehow people say, wow, in five years she could have gotten away. They said the same thing about R. Kelly's victims. Not true. Not true.

Starting point is 00:08:57 And Nancy, when you're talking about crack, I mean, they would give it to rats and find that the rats would actually starve themselves, be dead or on the verge of death, and prefer to do crack. It's that addictive. So nothing else matters. They don't pay any attention to the environment, as you described, because they are that addicted. And I heard allegedly that this guy said that he was keeping girls for their own protection,

Starting point is 00:09:31 that he was trying to protect them. This guy or R. Kelly? This guy, the guy that we're talking about. And I feel like R. Kelly was kind of saying the same thing, like, I'm taking care of them. They can't take care of themselves. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. When the cops do find her, what exactly do they find?

Starting point is 00:10:12 Describe her living conditions. It was a filthy, nasty garage. It was a single car garage, Nancy. Not a very big one, but single car garage. And it had been converted into this apartment slash jail cell. It was filthy with a mattress on the floor. There was a toilet of some type, but it didn't flush. There were the windows had been boarded up. And as you mentioned, when we started, she had an odor, a pungent odor.

Starting point is 00:10:50 The whole area stunk. According to her, she hadn't had a shower in two months. When they started looking around the room, she was wearing filthy clothing. The fire department actually had to pry open the garage door to get inside there because it hadn't been used as a garage. It had been used as this prison jail cell that she could not get out of. So beyond the filth, beyond the no toilet, beyond the no water. You're talking about, oh, and the snacks. The only thing she really ever got to eat were little snacks here and there, and there was trash on the floor from that. And I'm reading directly from court documents. The woman, extremely

Starting point is 00:11:36 malnourished, weighing approximately 70 pounds with a pungent smell coming from her body. Her hair was, quote, crusty. She wore filthy clothes, had no shoes. The fire department had to pry open the garage door. Inside, officers found the door had a lock on it. Windows were boarded up. There was a toilet that did not flush, a sink, a mattress with fresh vomit covering it, a TV, and chips and Twinkies. Now, what we are learning, actually, a lot about how this woman ended up in the garage. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Dave Mack, but apparently the victim told police that four to five years before, it turns out it was five years before, at

Starting point is 00:12:27 that time she was pregnant and panhandling on the street where, and at that time, the defendant pulled his car over and gave her a dollar. He left, but he came back and asked her, did she need help? She got in the car for help. He took her to his home and then put her in the garage and started beating her, forcing her to have sex with him and take pills and use crack cocaine against her will. What more can you tell me about how she ends up padlocked in a garage? Well, you know, we've mentioned the panhandling. She's very pregnant.

Starting point is 00:13:08 We don't know how pregnant. We know that she says she was pregnant as she was panhandling up and down the street, that she was lured there because he had the promise of shelter, food. You know, you need help. I've got your help right here. He had already given her a dollar and drove off. So when he came back to her, she was already warmed up to the guy she was willing to be nicer to him and when he gets her back to his home all i could think of nancy of course is a big

Starting point is 00:13:35 sham a big trick you know come on down here you can get a shower or whatever and as soon as she is in the room that she cannot get out of without his help. He owns her. He's got everything. And she finds herself lost in no man's land. Now, part about the drugs. Nancy, you've dealt with this for a long time. You know the effects that some drugs have on people. They can become almost immediately addicted. Wait a minute.

Starting point is 00:13:59 I've got to tell you what happened last night, Dave Mack. Last night we were sitting at the table. We were eating dinner and my daughter said, mom, is it genetic that you're a teetotaler? She said, because mama, my grandmother, her great grandmother was a teetotaler. Uh, grandmommy is a teetotaler and you're, you're a teetotaler. So, and she said, and I'm a teetotaler. Of course, she just turned 16. Of course, she's a teetotaler.

Starting point is 00:14:30 But she said, is it genetic? And I started laughing. I'm like, no, sweetheart. I've just been in so many court cases, literally thousands of court cases. Typically I would see them and I'm going to go to a renowned attorney, Alan Bennett, joining me, former assistant DA, partner now at Gunter, Bennett and Anthus, gbafirm.com. Alan, literally thousands, and that's hard to take in but over 10 years of handling you know three or four hundred cases a month it adds up right so I would see I spent the first one I saw was this gorgeous female

Starting point is 00:15:13 stockbroker and she came into court I was what they called a pony at that time I was assigned to a seasoned district attorney and I was learning from him. And he was really a great prosecutor. And that may have been the first guilty plea I ever took from someone. She was beautiful. She had been a very successful stockbroker, but she got addicted. It was alcohol. And she lost her license as a stockbroker, her job. Her husband left her.

Starting point is 00:15:44 She had two or three children. She never got to see them. And she, I think, was a habitual violator. She had pulled a DUI, you know, eight or nine times until it was finally a felony. She lost everything. That's the first time I saw what alcohol or drugs could do to someone. I had never seen that in my life. And then from there, it really went downhill. You know, people burning the house down, trying to cook crack,

Starting point is 00:16:11 people getting shot in drug deals. And I mean, people with jobs, with children and families and homes that were functioning alcoholics or functioning dope addicts. You're darn right, I'm a teetotaler. I mean, Alan Bennett, I can't really count the number of cases like that. Oh, you're absolutely right, Nancy. And I myself have seen the exact same thing in my career, people losing everything. When crack cocaine first became prevalent in the early 90s, we thought that was the worst thing in the world when I was a prosecutor.

Starting point is 00:16:42 And later in my career, coming to find that methamphetamine is even worse. Lady speaking earlier a moment ago is absolutely correct. Research is clear. Rats, given the choice of cocaine or food or sex, will choose cocaine over food or sex until they eventually starve to death. Crack cocaine is what we refer to as chasing the dragon. Research indicates that the first time someone uses crack cocaine, they get a certain high, a certain euphoria. The second time they use crack cocaine, it's not quite as intense as the first time. And that is why crack is believed to be so highly addictive is because the person

Starting point is 00:17:25 is constantly chasing the dragon. They're always trying to get back to that first initial super intensive high they got the first time. And yes, I have seen people living in quarter, half million dollar homes, driving Mercedes Benz, and they try crack cocaine. And the first time they try it, it suddenly becomes the single most important thing in their life. And their life then becomes dedicated to getting more crack cocaine. So absolutely, that is a common phenomenon. Let me go to a special guest joining us, Alan Bennett. Not that you're not special. Rachel D. Fisher. You may know her name because I call on her often when I have health problems in cases that it's hard for me to understand. Rachel D. Fisher is a forensic nurse expert. She's a sex assault nurse examiner, a sane sex assault nurse examiner.

Starting point is 00:18:21 She's an expert witness. She's a P.I. and author of Taking Back the Pen. Now she is at Forensic Nursing Consulting and Education. Okay. Here's her website, legalrnconsult.org. This is, that's a mouthful, Rachel, but there's really no way to abbreviate all your qualifications. Rachel Fisher, this woman, 70 pounds. I don't know what happened to the baby. She was pregnant when she was kidnapped. I don't know what happened to the baby, but at 70 pounds, this woman was near death. It will be interesting to see when, you know, there's a subpoena out for records from medical that just went out within the past two days. So hopefully once they get the records, they'll see if there is any indication of when the birth was, what happened with the mom's health, the child's health.

Starting point is 00:19:19 Because when the patient comes to the hospital, the mother and the child are both seen as victims if they're getting for MBC exams and CPS typically gets involved. So if that, hopefully we'll be able to see those records soon, but the 70 pounds post-childbirth, I mean, that's not healthy for anybody who didn't just give birth or is of childbearing age. And she's about 32 years old. But yeah, that's not a healthy state. Not at all. And as we were hearing from Alan Bennett earlier, and in my experience of people that have ever been exposed to crack, once you're on it, you're on it,

Starting point is 00:20:01 and you'll do anything to get the next hit. Your children don't matter, your job, your career, your Lord, nothing, nothing matters except getting that hit. Is everybody sitting down? You may need to lay down for this. And Dave Mack, I'm not sure I've got this correct, but you just tell me if I'm wrong. Please correct me, because I learned this in court. If you don't have all the facts, and you don't know the law, you're screwed. You better go in there with the facts and the law as your sword and your shield, and don't be afraid to wield them.

Starting point is 00:20:46 These are the facts I'm understanding, Dave Mack. A neighbor told cops that Carter once said he had three women in his residence and he owned other homes where he, quote, kept women. The neighbor said Carter described the women as, quote, ungrateful because they, quote, want more food and drugs. Damn them straight to hell. They want food. How dare they get hungry when they're locked in the garage for five years? Dave Mack, did you learn that fact that I just learned? Yes, ma'am. I saw it just as you did.

Starting point is 00:21:23 And it's so disturbing. This whole this whole story is so disturbing. It's actually making my stomach hurt now that I mean, this is so R. Kelly. This is like the poor man's R. Kelly. Did you hear Viper, the rapper, is most well known. Man, I can't wait. I bet Alan Bennett would do a backflip as a defense attorney. Okay, listen to this. He's most well known for the 2008 album, You Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack. The uploads of his music have received millions of views on YouTube. Speaking of crack, I mean, there's no way with a straight face he can say to a jury or his defense attorney can say to a jury, my guy would never touch crack. He even wrote a song, a rap song about you cowards don't even smoke crack. Ouch. That hurts Alan Bennett. That's not

Starting point is 00:22:21 going to help anything. I'm so happy. There's one glimmer of happiness for me is that he wrote that song and performed it and put it on YouTube. Absolutely. We have seen countless examples of prosecutions of folks who the state may or may not have as much evidence as they would like. And then through current forensic abilities to go through. And of course, he's just out there in front of it all. But the current forensic abilities to go through, and of course he's just out there in front of it all, but the current forensic abilities to go through someone's social media, through their phones, through their computers, and their own words ultimately end up convicting them

Starting point is 00:22:57 or increasing their punishment. And he's not even hiding it. He's putting it out there on an album. And one more thing, in addition to his album, Alan Bennett, and I'm rushing us, I know, because I've got so much information on this case. You know, the Constitution, the Fourth Amendment protects all of us from unreasonable searches by the state. You know, the feds, the local cops, anyone state related. But the Constitution doesn't protect you from blabbing to your neighbors. So there's no way these statements to the neighbor Carter allegedly made that he had

Starting point is 00:23:33 three women in his residence and other homes where he, quote, kept women who were, quote, ungrateful because they, quote, wanted more food and drugs. That's who we're talking about. Again, it's the poor man's R. Kelly. But the women suffered the same way as R. Kelly's victims suffered, except this woman was starved 70 pounds. I mean, to you, Rachel D. Fisher, forensic nurse expert, how could she even think rationally at 70 pounds? I mean, how could she even think rationally at 70 pounds? I mean, how could she even think straight?

Starting point is 00:24:08 So being on medications and, you know, crack is listed in this case, that on top of it, the lack of nutrition and then your mind, you have a physiological addiction to the substance. So that's what these predators prey on is a vulnerability. So we know that she had a vulnerability. She needed a place to go. He offered her that coercion, you know, fraud, giving her, you know, false hopes. I'll take care of you. But then he gives her drugs. And once you have that high and you keep going, you need more. So you're going to have a physical response to that. So even if you get what they call rescued, law enforcement can take her to hospital, she can leave, but they always say, why do they go back? Well, they have a physical addiction that their body is going to, you know, have a lot of really bad things happen if they don't get that next fix. So one of the main reasons they go back to their abuser is because

Starting point is 00:25:00 of that hit and nobody addresses the substance, you know, misuse portion of it and it's not disclosed. So on top of the lack of nutrition, it's also the physiological addiction that they're being forced to have in order to stay, you know, in that situation that's very unsafe because then their mind is gone. They don't even understand the situation they're in and nothing else really matters because they don't even know what's happening. And again, we have no idea what happened to the baby. The baby's gone. Did she give birth? Did he beat her so severely she miscarried?

Starting point is 00:25:32 Did he force her to have an abortion? Another question is, it's not really a question. It's a miracle that she managed to get out. I want you to take a listen to our friend, investigative reporter for Crime Stories, Nicole Parton in our cut one. A woman called 911 from a texting app and said she was being held against her will. According to KPRC, police rescued the woman from the garage where she was being held captive. The victim weighed about 70 pounds and, according to officers, looked extremely malnourished and filthy. She had not showered in two months. Investigators went inside the garage and found a broken toilet, a dirty mattress covered in fresh vomit, a box of chips,

Starting point is 00:26:16 a few Twinkies, clothes, and diapers. There was no shower in the garage, so she would be taken inside the home from time to time. Police took the woman to the hospital. Now what we are learning in the last hours, new images showing the inside of the victim's filthy garage cell. A woman held captive in a dingy garage for five years. Joining me right now, William Slater, joining us out of Chicago, cybersecurity expert and the chief information security officer at Slater Technologies. You can find him at BillSlater.com. Bill, explain to me about this texting app. She called 911 from a, she got her mitts on his laptop, I guess, and and one of her very very few chances to go in

Starting point is 00:27:08 and take a shower she got on his laptop and through some type of texting app called 9-1-1 how did that happen oh when you install an application typically it creates a place in the browser where when you install it, you select your username and type in a password. And that's one of the reasons it's so dangerous to get into people's computers if you've got access and start going through their browser history and finding what they've been looked at. Because everybody is so lazy these days. They just go to the website and it automatically logs them in. So she was logged in as him. This is what I'm learning about this app I was asking about. Take a listen to our cut for Nicole Parton. The victim was reportedly able to use her kidnapper's laptop to contact police on a free text app, TextNow. It offers nationwide phone service for free.

Starting point is 00:28:10 Download the app to make calls without paying a phone bill. You can use your existing number or get a new one and text or call for free on Wi-Fi instantly. So is that how she did it, William Slater? A lot of people have never heard of text now, but it's basically a free phone service through Wi-Fi. Correct. And he was already using that as a user. And she probably saw the icon on his desktop and clicked on it and boom, she could get in. It's a very easy to use application. You know, we are learning also that she tried multiple times to escape. Take a listen to Crime Online in our cut three. Police say they have been called to the home

Starting point is 00:28:51 eight times in the past year. The woman says he took her to the garage where he boarded up the windows. A neighbor tells KTRK that on one occasion he was speaking to the police about what was going on in the home and as he is talking to the cops, the woman comes crawling out of the window, clawing her way out, eight months pregnant. The woman said she would beg Carter every day to let her go, but he would threaten to hurt her. In the time she tried to escape, the man would catch her and take her back to the garage. So let me understand something, Dave Mack. A neighbor says that on one occasion he was speaking to police. So obviously neighbor did call police, was speaking to police about what was going on. And the woman actually claws her way out of a window. Did that happen, Dave Mack? Yes, ma'am. That is exactly what happened. Is it true, Dave

Starting point is 00:29:41 Mack, that on some occasions she would actually get to go to the hospital, but he would always get her and take her back to the garage and beat her? Exactly true. So what do we know about that, Phil Waters, former homicide detective, Houston PD, now at Kindred Spirits PI? That begs the question, Phil, did the hospital not notice something was wrong? Did he take her there after she miscarried the baby? How do you explain that, Phil? Well, I don't know that I can. My concern is that the hospitals, if they recognize or see any signs of abuse, sexual abuse, malnourishment, those kinds of factors with a patient being brought

Starting point is 00:30:30 into the hospital, they are compelled by law to report to police at that moment in time that they're seeing something here that has caused some concern. So I'm struck by the fact that, at least in the affidavit, it says that she had gone to the hospital and he kept picking her up and taking her home. So I just, I'm not sure where the disconnect came. And I mean, what does that mean? Does that mean that when she went to the hospital, she did not make an outcry? There was nothing there that would indicate to the personnel there at the hospital that there was something going on here in terms of abuse. And they did not notify law enforcement. So there's a whole lot of stuff that we don't know. And there's always a backstory. So I'm curious to see how this thing

Starting point is 00:31:27 fleshes out in terms of where police got involved eight times to this house. And, and, you know, finally this time in April, this officer, patrol officer pursues this because he hears her, you know, reaching out from the structure. Calling out for help. And he hears it this time. Jump in, Karen Stark. I just wonder, you know, what kind of story he might have been able to come up with to explain to the hospital that he was there to pick her up. And if in fact, and it sounds like she was, you know, that addicted, that she would just go along with the story. the rapper Viper, back his car up to the garage, force her into the car, then take the car out onto the front yard.

Starting point is 00:32:32 It's very odd, Karen Stark. His front yard is very neatly kept. The home looks like it's just been painted. So you don't suspect you're holding a woman inside hostage for five years. So long story short, get her into the car, lock the car doors, back the car across the grass to the front door and take her into the house to get a bath. And then force her back in the car, not let her walk so she could get away, but force her back into the car and pull it back to the garage and force her in. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, right now we are being joined by a special guest, Shawna Burns. She is the mother of Haley Burns.

Starting point is 00:33:35 Haley was lured by an online predator when she was a teen girl, and she was held captive in the predator's home for over a year. She was starved. She was sex assaulted. And this is as a teen girl. Shawna, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. When you are hearing this case unfold, a lot of people, as you know, are saying, why did she leave? Why didn't she get out of there? When he opened the door, why didn't she run out?

Starting point is 00:34:15 It's not like that. What have you learned from your experience with your daughter being taken and held captive, beaten, sex assaulted, starved for over a year? The situation is so similar. My daughter was also starved. And because of that, it made her her ability to think and to function very limited. Even when, even when we were with her 12 to 16 to 18 hours after we recovered her, she was still not mentally all there. It was very, she was still very much under his control. What was going through your mind in that year plus that your daughter was held hostage? A million thoughts at the same time. Is she okay? Is she, does she need me? Is she crying out for me? Like, what if she's calling out for me? What if she

Starting point is 00:35:11 needs me? What if I can't get to her? Like that's the hardest part is being a mom is you want to protect your kid and you want to keep your kid safe. And we knew very early on, we knew that our daughter had been lured away by an internet predator. We knew it. The FBI knew it. And we knew that the person that had her did not have good intentions. So the whole time that she was gone, it was just like, what is happening to her? What horrific things is she enduring? And why? Like, how can we get to her to save her? I want you to hear more from Michael Collins, Commander Michael Collins from the Houston PD in our cut eight. The concern is that we possibly had an individual located inside this residence, perhaps locked inside one of the interior rooms. You can see behind me the way the house is laid out on the west side of the residence.

Starting point is 00:36:05 There is an attached garage and that had a deadbolt on the outside of the actual unit so that somebody on the inside was only able to gain entry or leave if it was unlocked from the outside. So we weren't sure if anybody was inside. Yes, a woman was inside for five years starving and being raped. It's uncanny that this type, this very odd type of kidnapping where you keep the person like an enslaved pet in your home and mistreat it happens over and over and over. And no one seems to notice. Do I have to say the words Ariel Castro?

Starting point is 00:36:53 Take a listen to our cut 34. When Amanda Berry called 911 on May 6, 2013, it was an answered prayer after 10 years of captivity when many people thought she was dead. But that was just the start of what Cleveland was going to find out. In 2003, Ariel Castro offered to give Amanda Berry a ride home from her job at Burger King. The 16-year-old knew Castro's children and got in his car. Castro took her back to his house, where he assaulted her and held her captive. But she wasn't the only one. A year before Amanda Berry was kidnapped, 20-year-old Michelle Knight got a ride from Castro,

Starting point is 00:37:30 and she became his first prisoner. In 2004, Castro added another victim, 14-year-old Gina DeJesus. She was a close friend of his daughter Arlene. Castro kept the women chained in his basement and tortured and raped them daily. And more. While keeping the girls captive, Castro lived a normal life. Family came to his house, but he blocked certain areas. He even attended a vigil for Gina DeJesus. He moved the girls into a barricaded room upstairs. Throughout their captivity, Castro restrained the women and subjected them to multiple sexual assaults.

Starting point is 00:38:05 When Knight became pregnant, which happened several times, Castro starved and beat her until she miscarried. He allowed Barry's pregnancy to come to term, but forced her to give birth inside a plastic swimming pool. He kept the women captive in his house for years, where he tormented and raped them. Barry's escape on May 6, 2013, calling 911, led to Castro's arrest. On August 1, he was sent to prison for life plus 1,000 years. Castro was found hanged in a prison cell, September 3, 2013. The M.O. is so similar, modus operandi, method of operation, grabbing the 16-year-old girl off the street, luring her into his car,

Starting point is 00:38:46 much the same way that this victim was lured. A lot has been kept secret in the current case, the case in chief. The judge even vacated the courtroom to read charges and allegations out loud due to the nature of the crimes. So Castro kept not one, but multiple women chained up in a home while he led a normal life, much like Lee Carter, a.k.a. Viper, the rapper. I guess a similar case that is eerily similar to this case is that of schoolgirl J.C. Dugard. Take a listen to our cut, 29. J.C. Lee Dugard was 11 years old when she was abducted off the street while walking to her school bus stop. Philip Garrido, a convicted sex offender, and his wife Nancy lured J.C. close enough to their car to grab her. Garrido shot J.C.

Starting point is 00:39:38 with a taser and Nancy covered her with blankets. J.C. Dugard was driven 170 miles away to Antioch, where she would be housed in the backyard, cut off from the entire world. The Garridos kept J.C. Dugard captive in her backyard prison. The Garridos start calling her Alyssa, and she is raped by Philip Garrido. J.C. becomes pregnant for the first time at age 14 and gives birth to a healthy baby girl. She's pregnant again at 17 and gives birth to another baby girl. In both cases, the Garridos delivered the children without any medical assistance. Soon, J.C. Dugard's daughters are living with her in her backyard prison. J.C. Dugard kept for years along with her children.

Starting point is 00:40:18 Their father was her kidnapper slash rapist. And then there is another young girl that I can't forget, Abby Hernandez. Take a listen. As Abby Hernandez walks home from school, blisters from her new boots are making it hard to walk. A stranger offers a ride and she gets in. In seconds, the man pulls a gun, tells Abby if she screams or tries to escape, there will be consequences. He handcuffs her, breaks her cell phone, and drives to a rural wooded area. The man ties her up, sexually assaults the 14-year-old, and locks her in a soundproof shipping container. To make matters worse, he adds a shock collar around her neck to keep her from screaming. Abby Hernandez is being drugged, sexually assaulted, tortured with a dog collar, kept in a soundproof shipping container,

Starting point is 00:41:06 and now her captor demands she call him master. And he claims he has rigged the storage container where he holds the teenager to erupt into flames if she attempts to escape. Her captor becomes more paranoid about getting caught with the bad money. I've got so many similar transactions, but before I go back to the case in chief, I would be remiss if I don't mention the case of someone I now call a friend, Alicia

Starting point is 00:41:32 Kozikevich, who amazingly survived a similar kidnap. Take a listen to our cut 27. When Alicia Kozikevich was 13, she was groomed, lured and abducted by an Internet predator named Scott Tyree. Tyree gained her trust. And as Alicia has said, Tyree lured her out of the house between dinner and dessert. Tyree took Alicia to his home in Virginia, where he kept her chained to the floor. He was live streaming what he had been doing to Alicia online. People were watching as she had her hands bound above her head, crying, beating, bleeding, begging, raping, and on it went. Alicia was saved because another sex predator was seeing the live stream and felt so bad about it. He, a predator, called police. To Karen Stark, a renowned psychologist joining us from Manhattan, it's another layer of torture, of rape, of kidnapping to keep the person like they're some sort of pet, like an animal that you keep against their will, assault, beat, rape, starve. What is that that's beyond a normal rapist or kidnapper? Well, that Nancy is brainwashing. That is making the person be your

Starting point is 00:42:54 slave. And if you listen to this, it's a young girl whose brain is just developing. And so how do they begin to have a sense of themselves and know the difference between who they are and the person who's turning them into their personal slave? So it's a tactic that actually works to further enslave the person. To you, Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, where does the case against Lee Carter, a.k.a. Viper, stand right now? Shockingly enough, Nancy, after his first court appearance, he had a $100,000 bond. He made the bond and got out. There were some conditions of bail. I mean, he's got to wear an ankle bracelet and stay around the house. But in reality, the investigation has just started.

Starting point is 00:43:46 He will be appearing back in court in the coming weeks. But this has been turned over to the sex trafficking, the human trafficking division at Houston Police Department. So this guy's on bond? Yes, ma'am. I'm also very curious about the other three women he bribed about keeping in different domiciles. If you know or think you know anything about this victim, her ordeal, or the other alleged victims, please call 713-308-1600. And if you don't know who the Viper is, just check out YouTube. He's already gotten four million downloads of his song.

Starting point is 00:44:33 You cowards don't take crack. That's impressive. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Pregnant Woman Raped, HELD 5 YEARS IN PADLOCK GARAGE

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Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Pregnant Woman Raped, HELD 5 YEARS IN PADLOCK GARAGE

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