Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Madman of Marshall Street” Gary M. Heidnik Pt. 2

Episode Date: April 1, 2021

By Thanksgiving 1986, Gary Heidnik had captured a woman and locked her in his basement, where he intended on making her carry his children. But Gary wanted an entire “birthing harem.” Over the next four months, he lured five more women to his Philadelphia home… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, sexual assault, rape, violence, and torture that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Gary Hydenick popped open the champagne and began pouring it out into five cups. He watched the women down their drinks, although he hardly touched his own. He didn't really like drinking, but he wasn't really like drinking, but he was. wanted to celebrate all the same. He believed two of his women, Josephina and Sandra, might be pregnant.

After drinks, Gary grabbed the bag of Chinese takeout and began setting the feast out onto the table. He enjoyed seeing the women gape at the food in disbelief. Now they'd seen how generous he could be when they deserved it. The women ate silently. Nobody was in the mood for conversation. The only noise they could hear besides the radio, Gary insists. on blasting was the rattle of the chains that bound their ankles and wrists. It was a horrible sound, one that haunted their dreams, a constant reminder of their captivity.

It was a sound they could never escape. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're continuing the story of Gary M. Hydenick. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Last time, we talked about how Gary Hydenick showed signs of being dangerously unstable

for more than two decades. Over time, he developed an obsession with fathering as many children as he could, and in 1986, he devised a plan to turn his obsession into a reality. Today, we'll talk about how Gary kidnapped several women and locked them in his basement dungeon. He intended to hold them captive to impregnate them, but before long, his cruel scheme turned deadly. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for,

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On November 27, 1986, most Americans were gathered around the table, enjoying Thanksgiving with their loved ones. Forty-year-old Gary Heidnik wasn't observing the holiday, but he did have reason to celebrate. He had just completed the first step of his sinister plot. And everything had gone off without a hitch. After convincing a 25-year-old sex worker Josephina Rivera to come back to his Philadelphia home with him, Gary attacked her, forced her into his basement and chained her to the wall. Josephina thought she was going to die, but Gary had other plans. Once he was securely restrained, he moved to the center of the room. There was a spot there where he'd torn up the concrete floor and dug a pit out of the dirt below. As Josephina watched,

Gary grabbed a shovel and began scooping up dirt, making the pit even larger. He talked to her as he dug, explaining that he wanted to have kids, lots of them. He told her he'd tried starting a family before, but the state had intervened and removed the child from his custody. Gary was still fuming about the injustice. Even in her terror, Josephina could tell that Gary was an intensely lonely man. He wanted children to fill the void, telling Josephina that the world owed him these babies. So he intended to bring 10 women down to his basement, hold them captive, and impregnate

each one. He told Josephina, we'll be one big, happy family. He seemed thrilled by the idea of having a collection of human underlings to lord over, a group of women and children who were totally dependent on him. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. A note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg.

Gary Heidnick displayed characteristics typical of abductors as he described his motivations to Josephina. Psychologist and Georgetown University professor Dr. Fatali M. Mogadam has compared predators like Gary to political dictators. In an article touching on the subject of his book, The Psychology of Dictatorship, Mogadam described how certain men seek total power over individuals, the same way dictators try to maintain power over countries. He wrote, the kidnapper is not satisfied with sexually attacking the victim. The kidnapper wants to be able to have complete control of the victim. The kidnapper wants

to be able to manipulate the victim 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is the sense of absolute control that the kidnapper desires. Gary was obsessed with this kind of power. His basement was his own personal domain, and Josephina was his first subject. She was stunned and terrified, as she realized she'd fallen into the hands of a monster, but she wasn't going to submit to Gary's twisted desires. As soon as Gary went back upstairs, Josephina shuffled across the room, as far as her chains would allow. She made it to one of the windows along the wall, and using a discard pool cue she found on the floor, pushed it open. Then she launched her body halfway out, but the chain around her ankle held her tight. She couldn't go any further. She began to scream,

hoping someone might hear her, but in Gary's high-crime neighborhood, nobody gave her cries a second thought. The only person who responded was Gary. He rushed down to drag her all the way back into the basement and began to beat her until she cried that she couldn't take any more. Then he shoved her into the pit. It was barely big enough for Josephina to fit inside. She had to curl up with her neck bent and her legs folded against her chest. But Gary didn't care about her comfort. He covered the hole with a piece of plywood and placed bags of dirt on top to weigh it down. Trapped underground, Josephina sobbed. Gary turned on the radio to drown out her cries. Then he went back upstairs. He was already making a plan to capture his name.

next victim. 24-year-old Sandra Lindsay was an easy target because she already knew and trusted Gary. They met while Sandra was at the Elwyn Institute, a local nonprofit that serviced individuals with autism, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. Gary frequently hung around the Institute to pick up women and bring them back home for sex. After meeting Gary, Sandra attended sessions at the church he founded in 1971. She then agreed to sleep with him several times. Although it's not clear she had the capacity to give actual consent.

Gary had even gotten her pregnant, but she terminated the pregnancy on her own soon afterwards. When he heard about the abortion, Gary offered her $1,000 to let him impregnate her again, but she declined. So he decided that if he couldn't bribe her into bearing his children, he'd force her to do it instead. On November 29th, about two days after kidnapping Josephina, Gary found Sandra running Aaron. at a corner store near her house. He coerced her to come home with him. Once she was inside,

he dragged her into the basement, where Josephina was still trapped in the pit. He pulled Josephina out and resumed digging the hole. He needed to make it large enough to fit the two women. Afterward, he raped them both. His birthing harem, as he called it, was underway. But it wasn't long before Gary's scheme hit a snag. When Sandra Lindsay didn't return,

home that night, her family was worried. They began calling her friends asking about her whereabouts. One suggested that she might be with Gary. So on the morning of November 30th, Sandra's sister and two of her cousins showed up at his house looking for her. Gary refused to answer, but he knew they'd be back unless he did something to allay their suspicions. Later that day, he brought a pen and paper into the basement and dictated a message for Sandra to write. She scrawled, Dear mom, do not worry, I will call. Underneath, she signed her name and then addressed an envelope. Gary drove the letter all the way to New York City, where he dropped it in the mailbox. He wanted Sandra's family to see the postmark and assume she'd run away.

But when Sandra's mother received the letter, she didn't believe Sandra had written of her own free will. It wasn't like her to leave town on her own. But according to Ken Englade, author of cellar of horror when she reported her daughter missing to the police, there was little response. Once the responding officer saw the letter, he figured Sandra was safe and would return home when she was ready. Yet Sandra's mother insisted that he looked into Gary. The first name meant nothing to the officer. If he had been able to see Gary's criminal record, it would have given him pause. After all, Gary had already kidnapped a woman with an intellectual disability, just like Sandra. He'd even gone to prison for it.

Unfortunately, when the officer questioned Sandra's friend about Gary, the friend misspelled Gary's last name. When the officer eventually typed the name into the system, there were no results. So he gave the case less priority and made few follow-up efforts to search for Sandra. In the meantime, Gary took extra steps to avoid getting caught. He started soundproofing his basement to ensure that no one would hear his captive screams. He also beat both women relentlessly to discourage them from trying to run away. Weeks went by. Gary kept Sandra and Josephina shackled 24 hours a day. He didn't let them bathe or comb their hair. When nobody came to rescue the women, they became defeated, and Gary grew confident. By December 22nd, 1986, he was ready for a new

addition to his harem. That Monday afternoon, he cruised around the streets of Philadelphia in his Cadillac until he came upon a 19-year-old woman named Lisa Thomas. Lisa fit the profile of all of Gary's victims. She was a young black woman with a low-income. When she saw Gary's fancy car, she waved, which caught his attention. He pulled over and offered her a ride to wherever she was going. Impressed by the car, Lisa agreed. As they drove, Gary flirted. with her. He plied her with compliments and asked if she'd like to come to Atlantic City with him. When she replied that she had nothing to wear for such a trip, he drove her to Sears, handed her a $50 bill, and told her to buy whatever she wanted. Lisa was won over. After purchasing

a few new outfits, she decided to go home with Gary. They went back to his house and, after he'd given her a glass of wine, she reportedly passed out due to the alcohol's reaction with an allergy medication she had previously taken. As she regained her senses, Gary brought her to his room and had sex with her. But when she asked if he'd give her a ride to her friend's house, Gary snapped. He grabbed her by the throat and began to strangle her. She tried to fight him off, but he wouldn't let her go. Instead, he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists and brought her down to the basement. Downstairs, Gary pulled Josephina and Sandra out of the pit where he'd left them. he introduced Lisa as if welcoming a new guest

and then offered his prisoners a meal of peanut butter sandwiches. But before they were allowed to eat, he raped his newest prisoner. For Lisa, the assault was a grim initiation into what would become a horrific daily routine. And there was no end in sight. Coming up, Gary's torturous scheme turns deadly. Hi, listeners, it's Vanessa from Parkast. If you haven't had a chance to check out my series Mythology, you don't know what you're missing. Heroes, gods, monsters, and mayhem.

This podcast has it all. Every Tuesday, take a deep dive back in time, exploring the history, origins, and meaning behind the myths that have shaped the Earth. Each episode of mythology dramatizes a story pulled from beliefs from around the world, giving insight into how our ancestors saw the universe, and how those stories were. Stories resonate in our lives today. Recent episodes include the epic battle between Hercules and Theseus, the grieving spirit known as La Yorona, and a treacherous journey to the land of the dead. Catch new episodes every Tuesday and binge the classics any time. Follow mythology free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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By the end of 1986, Gary Heidnick was single-mindedly focused on one, goal, kidnapping 10 women and imprisoning them in his Philadelphia basement so that he could force them to bear his children. He already managed to keep three young black women captive, Josephina Rivera, Sandra Lindsay and Lisa Thomas, but he was eager to grow his harem. Around New Year's Day, 1987, he went scouting again. He found 23-year-old Deborah Johnson Dudley and brought her home. A little over two weeks later, he met an 18-year-old sex worker named Jacqueline Askins.

She went home with him, expecting a typical job. When she got there, he showed her some arcade games he collected, and she started playing one of them. While she was distracted, he put her in a headlock and dragged her to the basement. Gary was elated to now have four women under his control, but he expressed his pleasure in increasingly depraved acts of cruelty. He beat the women with a shovel handle. Often. Sometimes he forced them to beat each other with it as well.

He didn't want the women to develop a camaraderie and rise up against him, so he tried to make them resent each other. He did this by playing favorites, especially with Josephina Rivera, because she was the most compliant. She had worked out that obedience meant survival. Gary also manipulated the women by picking one and only one to reward with special treats, like ice cream or Chinese food. His tactics worked. Eventually, the women were too worn down to resist him. But even when they cooperated, it didn't stop Gary from punishing them.

It was a compulsion he couldn't resist. In a 2012 study on sadism published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, researchers Jay Healey, Patrick Lucier, and Eric Beauregard conducted a study on sexual sadists, those who were sceptive. sexually aroused by violent or humiliating behavior. The authors noted that, among all types of rapists identified by researchers, sexual sadists might be one of the groups most likely to escalate their violence to homicide. While not all sexual sadists have violent impulses that end in murder, Gary's whole world

seemed to revolve around degrading and torturing these women. It was clear that a deadly outcome was inevitable. In February, after more than two months of being held captive, 24-year-old Sandra Lindsay became ill. She was vomiting and feverish. Perhaps Gary was pleased because he thought her sickness might be a sign of pregnancy, but his mood soured when Sandra lost her appetite. Gary worried that his baby wasn't getting enough to eat.

He tried to force feed her some bread. When she refused, he became enraged. To teach her a lesson, Gary hooked one of her chains to a beam on the ceiling. She hung there for at least two days, suspended by one wrist. Eventually, it's possible that the weight of her own limp body squeezed the air out of her lungs and caused her to asphyxiate. When Gary saw that Sandra had died, his reaction was cold, calculating. He felt no remorse about torturing a woman to death. All he cared about was getting rid of the body so that he wouldn't get caught.

But he knew he had to be careful. Sandra's family had already shown up at his place looking for her. Despite his efforts to make it look like she'd run away to New York, Gary knew he might be the first suspect if Sandra were found dead. Gary had one idea of how to solve the problem. It was perhaps his most disturbing act yet. He used an electric saw to dismember Sandra's body. Allegedly, he then ground up what body parts he could

and fed them to his two dogs. He set aside her skull and tossed it in a pot of boiling water. Other parts he tried to incinerate in his oven. As he roasted her body parts, the smell of burning flesh filled the house. The women downstairs gagged from the stench. The smell was even noticeable from outside. Gary's neighbors had ignored some of his questionable behavior before, but when they caught wind of the stomach-churning scent, they called the police.

An officer stopped by Garys to investigate around five people, on February 10th. When questioned about the peculiar smell, Gary said that he'd burned a roast. He seemed calm and lucid, so the officer didn't see any reason to go inside and look around. Satisfied, he went on his way. But Sandra's death and the police visit rattled Gary. Suddenly, he worried his scheme was unraveling. And perhaps the women sensed that he was vulnerable. Deborah Dudley, the most rebellious of Gary's captives, helped devise an attack She told the others that she planned to hit Gary over the head with an iron pipe they had found buried in the dirt under the floor, and she wanted the others to attack him while he was stunned.

However, the plan fell apart before Deborah could strike. Apparently, Josephina confessed to Gary, wanting to earn his trust in hopes that it might buy her freedom. When he found out, Gary doled out his most brutal punishment yet. He took screwdrivers and drove them into the women's ears. piercing their eardrums. He reasoned that if they couldn't hear, it would be harder for them to devise any more schemes to overpower him. Only Josephina was spared. The more Gary inflicted pain on his prisoners,

the more he seemed to enjoy it. As bad as the first few months of captivity were, the worst was still to come. Gary continued to beat and rape the women daily. He also taunted them with threats that he would grind up pieces of Sandra's body and mix it in with their food. Then, in March of 1987, he came up with a new method of torture.

Gary cut the end off an electric extension cord and stripped the protective coating, leaving the wire bare. He began administering shocks to the women whenever it suited him. On Wednesday, March 18th, he decided they needed to be punished more severely. He ordered Deborah, Lisa, and Jacqueline to sit in the underground pit, and he used a hose to fill it with water. As the women sat shivering in the homemade pool, Gary prepared the extension cord. Either he or Josephina, under his instruction, pressed the live wire to the metal chains that

restrained the women. The electric current ran through the metal and coursed through the prisoners. Moments later, 23-year-old Deborah went silent and limp. The other women called out, You've killed her! Gary scoffed. But when he peered into the pit, he saw Deborah slumped over. Her face was underwater. Gary pulled the women out and laid Deborah's body across the floor. After confirming she was dead, he looked at the others and said, aren't you glad it wasn't one of you? Gary made the most of Deborah's death. He saw it as an opportunity to tighten his control over his captives. He grabbed a pen and paper and told Josephina to write out a confession letter, admitting her role in Deborah's death. He told her, if you ever go to the cops, I can use this as evidence that

you kill Debbie. Gary made the other women sign the sheet as witnesses. With this letter, he was satisfied he could blackmail Josephina whenever he wanted. He was so certain now that she'd never defy him, he decided he could grant her a little more freedom. He removed Josephina's chains, gave her a clean shirt and a pair of jeans to wear, and allowed her. to go upstairs. Over the next few days, he gave Josephina free reign of the house. He acted as if she were his girlfriend, confiding in her, ruminating on what he'd do if he were caught.

As far as he was concerned, he and Josephina were accomplices, both responsible for Deborah's death. He truly believed that she couldn't go to the police without implicating herself. So he enlisted her help in getting rid of Deborah's body. Gary wrapped the corpse in a blanket and carried it out to his car. and told Josephina to get in the passenger seat. She was afraid, but she knew the more Gary trusted her, the better her chances of staying alive.

So she got in the car. Gary drove them about 40 miles east into the forests of New Jersey. He parked in a desolate spot in the middle of the Pine Barrens. Josephina watched over the car while Gary dumped Deborah's body among the trees, then returned to the vehicle. As they drove home, Gary began plotting again. First Sandra and then Deborah were gone. He'd wanted 10 women to birth his children.

Now he was down to just three. It was time to scout for more victims. The following morning, Gary sought out a sex worker he'd hired in the past, 24-year-old Agnes Adams. He'd paid her to perform oral sex on him the month before. But apparently, Gary wasn't interested in kidnapping her at that point. This time, he offered her $30 for an appointment, luring her to his home.

He brought her to his room to have sex, but as she got ready to leave, he grabbed her by the neck, handcuffed her, and dragged her to the basement. In the aftermath of the attack, he felt confident he could repopulate his birthing harem in no time. Meanwhile, Josephina kept a close eye on Carrie, ready to take advantage of his good mood.

The next day, she asked if she could visit her family. By then, she had convinced him that she had no interest in running away. She told him that if he allowed her to leave for a few hours, she'd bring back a new woman for the basement. Gary agreed. He still had her confession letter as insurance, and he was so convinced that he had cowed and manipulated the women into submission, it didn't occur to him that one of them could be tricking him. So, on the night of March 24, 1987, Gary dropped Josephina off near her old neighborhood. Before he left, he told her to meet him at a gas station parking lot at midnight. She promised him she would. Once she was out of Gary's sight, Josephina raced to the apartment of an old boyfriend, Vincent.

As soon as he opened the door, Josephina opened her mouth and her story came spilling out. She told him everything. Hearing her tale of rape and torture, Vincent was ready to grab a weapon and go looking for Gary himself, but Josephina convinced him to call the police. They called 911 from a payphone. Moments later, two policemen came to meet them.

Josephina repeated her story to the officers. She told them that three other women were still in captivity and that she was terrified Gary would kill them if she didn't return. The officer stared at her in disbelief. The accusations seemed too grotesque to be true. But when Josephina showed them the marks on her arms and wrists, scars left by the prolonged use of handcuffs and chains, they finally agreed to investigate.

Josephina told the police where Gary would be waiting to pick her up at midnight, and the police agreed to check it out. When they arrived at the gas station, Gary was sitting in his Cadillac. The officers drew their guns, approached the car, and asked Gary to step outside. Gary raised his hands and exited the car. Despite the guns pointed at him, he didn't seem worried. He asked them if they were coming to hassle him about the child support he owed his estranged wife, Betty. Then Josephina stepped forward.

According to one of the officers who arrived at the scene, she pointed to Gary and cried, That's him. He raped me and killed these two other girls. The officer placed Gary under arrest and took him into custody. Meanwhile, more officers arrived to take Josephina's statement. While retelling her story, Josephina grew increasingly agitated, asking if anyone was going back to the house for the other women. She asked them again and again, growing frantic.

It was another four hours before police were finally given the command to search Gary's House of Horrors, and despite Josephina's story, none of them were prepared for what they'd find. Coming up, police discover the shocking truth at Gary's House of Horrors. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade.

Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Now back to the story. In the early hours of March 25, 1987, 43-year-old Gary Heidnick was arrested by the Philadelphia police on suspicion of rape and kidnapping. It wasn't long before the authorities learned just how depraved Gary's actions were.

Around 5 a.m. that morning, police surrounded Gary's home on North Marshall Street. They broke the front door down with a crowbar and stampeded into the house. Immediately their senses were assaulted. The smell of death hung in the air. And the television and radio were blaring. The thermostat was also set to a blisteringly high temperature. Altogether, it made for a disorienting atmosphere. As the police trampled through the kitchen, one of the officers spotted fragments of what could have been human bones in a roasting pan,

but a far more horrifying discovery awaited them in the basement. They came downstairs to find Lisa Thomas and Jacqueline Askins chained to the wall. The two women were fast asleep. They jerked awake as the officers surrounded them. For a moment, they were too bewildered to understand that they were being rescued. When the realization hit, they began crue. crying in relief, shouting, We're saved, were saved.

They pointed to the pit in the middle of the room, covered in plywood, and weighed down with sandbags. When police peered inside, they found Agnes Adams. Agnes was terrified, but still fairly healthy. She'd only been trapped a couple of days, but the other two women looked shockingly malnourished. Their wrists and ankles were covered in sores and abrasions. After freeing them with bolt cutters,

the authorities transported the men. them to the hospital. Their agonizing ordeal was finally over, but that couldn't change the fates of Sandra Lindsay and Deborah Dudley. Sandra's mother was devastated to learn that her suspicions were correct all along. She had pushed police to investigate Gary, but they had essentially dropped the matter. Her mother told reporters they could have saved them all. The authorities were certainly paying attention now. After finding Sandra Lindsay's remains, they went to work looking for more bodies. they couldn't discount the possibility that Gary had been killing for years.

Over the next few days, they thoroughly searched Gary's apartment on North Marshall Street, bringing in backhose and sand sifters to excavate his yard. They conducted a similar search of the house on Cedar Avenue, where Gary had lived years before. As authorities poured over Gary's life with a fine-tooth comb, Gary himself remained locked up in Philadelphia Detention Center without bail. He was attacked by another prisoner shortly after he was detained, so for his own safety, he was transferred to the psychiatric unit of the penitentiary.

Apparently, these precautions couldn't protect Gary from himself. A little over a week after his arrest, he tried to hang himself in the bathroom using his shirt. Guards rescued him before it was too late, which meant Gary was alive to stand trial for capital murder. But lawyers had to contend with another major obstacle, The question of Gary's mental fitness. A few days after his suicide attempt, Gary hired a defense lawyer, Charles Peruto Jr. The lawyer wasted no time laying the groundwork for an insanity defense for his client. He even started describing Gary as insane to the press.

Gary's demeanor added to this image. Reporters noticed and commented on his distinctive way of dressing. In court appearances, Gary often styled himself in the same outfit again and again. A dirty buckskin jacket with fringe and an old Hawaiian shirt. During these appearances, he often appeared vacant. He even drooled on occasion, though this was perhaps because he'd been prescribed large doses of thorazine, a medication used to treat psychotic disorders while in custody. Prosecutors could only hope that Gary's odd behavior wouldn't sway a jury.

If Gary were declared insane, he would likely spend the rest of his life in a psychiatric hospital. But that wasn't good enough for the district attorney's office. They wanted the death penalty. Gary's notoriety was also a challenge for the trial. The grisly details of his crime dominated the airwaves for days. Predictably, the media seized upon the shocking details of Gary's horrific acts, his eccentric behavior, his secret stock market riches, and the disturbing racial implications of a white man holding vulnerable black women captive.

Taking all this in, Gary's defense attorney argued that it would be impossible to select an impartial jury. He said that the sensationalized media coverage had already prejudiced the public against his client. So as the trial date drew near, the judge in the case approved the defense's request to select an out-of-town jury. They chose a pool from Pittsburgh to be transported to Philadelphia for the trial. In June of 1988, the trial began. Charles Peruto Jr. made no attempt to... to deny that Gary had tortured and killed his captives. But he argued that Gary couldn't be held responsible for these murders.

And he called on several psychiatrists to testify to that effect. They discussed Gary's long history of schizophrenia and mental illness and testified that Gary was suffering from delusions that made it impossible for him to control his actions. The prosecution, relying on their own mental health experts, agreed that Gary was undeniably mentally ill. However, they posited that he didn't mean, the legal definition of insanity because he knew that what he'd done was wrong. Otherwise,

he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to cover up his crimes. For example, he made calculated efforts to soundproof his basement so that nobody could hear his prisoners. He attempted to throw police off by sending Sandra Lindsay's letters from New York, and he made sure to hide the bodies of his victims to avoid detection. Whatever delusions Gary experienced, his actions demonstrated he was fully aware that he was breaking the long. testimony dragged on for nearly two weeks, but at the beginning of July, 1988, the jury returned a verdict. They found Gary guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape. After everything the victims and their families had been through, they were relieved, but surprised to see justice prevail,

especially since it required a Caucasian jury to sentence a Caucasian man to death. Gary didn't want to appeal his conviction, but he made another suicide attempt in January 1989. Around 3 a.m. one morning, death road guards discovered him unconscious in his cell. He'd been hoarding his prescribed Thorazine tranquilizers, and he used them to overdose. This suicide attempt left him in a coma for two days, and he was placed under constant suicide watch after he regained consciousness. Guards supervised him around the clock and checked his mouth to make sure he

He swallowed his pills. But Gary was determined to die. So we filed a petition to speed up his execution. Pennsylvania death penalty cases are subject to automatic appeals, meaning the process can often drag on for years. But Gary wasn't interested in delaying the inevitable. He wanted to be executed as soon as possible. According to criminal justice expert Meredith Martin Roundtree, approximately 10% of those

executed in the United States are prisoners who sought or at some point declined to contest their own execution. Commonly called volunteers, these prisoners succeed in hastening execution by waiving their right to full judicial review of their conviction and sentence. In the 2018 book Living on Death Row, the psychology of waiting to die, Roundtree cited various reasons motivating these prisoners. Some may seek to die out of a need for autonomy and a desire to control their destiny. This theory makes sense for someone like Gary, who was so often driven by the need to be in control. But in this case, Gary's fate was out of his hands. The court rejected his request to speed up his execution. After Gary's petition was

denied, his case took eight years to proceed through the court system. When his automatic appeals were finally exhausted, his execution was scheduled for April 1997. However, as this date approached, there was another delay from an unlikely source, Gary's 19-year-old daughter, Maxine. Maxine had never met her father because she was removed from his custody as an infant. Still, the thought of letting him die without a fight didn't sit right with her. She argued that Gary was incompetent enough to be executed and filed a lawsuit on his behalf, requesting a last-minute reprieve. After two more years of legal battles, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously upheld Gary's sentence. 55-year-old Gary Heidnick died by lethal injection on July 6, 1999.

Gary's death, more than 20 years ago, was the last execution carried out by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The death penalty may be a rarity there, but Gary Heidnick was a rare breed of criminal. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge felt that the ultimate... punishment was the only suitable outcome for Gary. The governor remarked, he suffered far less than the women he tortured and killed. It would be nice to think that Gary's death finally helped alleviate the pain he caused. Indeed, after the execution, Deborah Dudley's sister, Carolyn Johnson, expressed a hope for closure. But for the survivors of Gary's House of Horrors, nothing can erase the agony and terror they endured in that basement. In terms,

2014, more than 25 years after her ordeal, Josephina Rivera spoke of the pain she carries with her to this day. She said, you don't ever totally get over an experience like mine. You just have to learn to live with it. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. For more information on Gary Heidnick, amongst the many sources we used, we found Cellar of Horror, the story of of Gary Hydenick by Ken Englade extremely helpful to our research. You can find more episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from

Parkast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Nick Johnson, with production assistants by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Christina Pammies, with writing assistance by Joanna Philbin and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Bennett Logan, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Polson and Vanessa Richardson. Want to hear something spooky. Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot.

Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snakelight lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.