True Crime with Kimbyr - 20 Years of Captivity: The Chilling House of Horrors in Waterbury: Part 3

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Part three of True Crime with Kimbyr brings the shocking Waterbury captivity case to its most haunting revelations. Kimbyrleigha examines the aftermath—legal proceedings, community outrage, and the voices of those closest to the victim. She unpacks the broader implications of the case, from systemic failures to the lasting scars of psychological abuse. With empathy and sharp investigation, Kimbyrleigha highlights the resilience of survivors while exposing the darkest realities of hidden cruelty. This conclusion leaves us with powerful questions about justice, accountability, and how to prevent such horrors from ever happening again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Fritzel case has often talked about to show that even in a household with other people, Joseph's wife and three other children that lived upstairs, a determined evil individual can really intimidate and have these elaborate lies to cover up what they're doing. This is just like what we think might have happened in Kimberly Sullivan's case, allegedly hiding her steps on while still having two daughters leading a normal life upstairs. And then I just want to mention the most recent case, which was the Turpin family. This was years to decades of captivity and they were rescued in 2018. I am sure you've probably seen headlines for this particular story since it just happened only a few years ago.

David and Louise Turpin mistreated and imprisoned their 13 children ranging from two years old to 29 years old in their home in Paris, California. Though Turpin children were often shackled to beds, denied food, and allowed to shower only once a year in some instances. Now the neighbors saw the thin children occasionally but didn't realize the extent of the extent of the extent of the extent of the time. of the mistreatment. But in January of 2018, a 17-year-old Turpin daughter courageously escaped through a window and called 911 on a deactivated cell phone, which prompted a police raid in the house, and they rescued 12 of her siblings. Now, the Turpin case does have similarities to Sullivan's case. The parents kept the children out of school. They claimed to homeschool them. The inhumane treatment that spanned decades. The oldest was 29 and only weighed 82 pounds when they were found.

And it raised serious questions about the oversight of children who are taken out of the system. The Turban parents pled guilty to torture, false imprisonment, and child mistreatment, receiving 25 years to life sentences. But many of the siblings did show resilience. I know they have gone public on TV. One of them has a TikTok that I've seen before, and they were trying to build their lives again. And this is just another case that is a reminder that children can be treated so very badly behind closed doors for a long time by their own parents. And it does raise a lot of questions like,

how could a parent do this? How can other family members in the household know or be coerced into silence? I'm asking a lot of those questions. Even with a domineering mother, in this case, because the two daughters, this was their mother, how would she be able to create an ongoing climate of fear? That's my question. Like, at some point, can't you overpower her? Can't you, you know, on your own free will, notify the police, like, hey, something weird is going on. Can't you anonymously call in and say, my mom, you know, is doing something really messed up to my stepbrother? I just, I will never understand that.

I mean, you're going to have to explain something really extreme to me, and I don't think anything would justify not coming forward. The psychological toll of what the victim endured, being captive and isolated, that's a lot. And I read in the affidavit, which I'll get to, that they did. have treatments for PTSD and depression talked about that the victim in this case would be going through and necessary to be treated for. These individuals will face long-term mental health issues. I just want to point out some things that you might want to think about psychologically and mental health-wise because I found them interesting, so briefly want to touch on that. PTSD being one of the highest level,

which includes symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety. And then there's also also depression and anxiety. Living through decades of this type of mistreatment can lead to chronic depression, learned helplessness, and generalized anxiety because they have not been out on their own. They have not been in any social environments. And now when they're free, those feelings don't just vanish overnight. There's also sensory and social deprivation effects. When you're living in this solitary confinement condition, it can cause cognitive difficulties, hallucinations, and travel with spatial orientation. Luckily, the victim in this case did stimulate his mind through radio and books, which is great, but he still lacked normal human interaction. They feel overwhelmed by all the sensory

input because can you imagine the sights and sounds of the real world? And then a lot of times there are developmental delays. The psychological age of a person who has been locked up so long is different from their biological age. They missed out on a lot of the form of the form of experiences of adolescence, the school, friendships, romantic relationships, learning to drive, using technology. So just think about that. How much technology has changed from 1993 to now and how much this man missed and how much he will have to catch up on. And think about the trust lost when a victim is mistreated by someone in their family, a parent, a parental figure.

This could cause such deep trust issues. I mean, children look to their parents for love and safety. And in this case, it was the complete opposite. So it wouldn't be surprising if a victim harbors resentment, difficulty trusting other people, especially older adult women, a caretaker. It's just unbelievable. And last, the physical rehabilitation is not psychological per se, but the physical recovery because the body and the mind are linked together.

when a person is malnourished, as this victim was, re-feeding, that's what it's called, must be done carefully because you can die. It was mentioned in the affidavit. If he is re-nourished too fast, it can be fatal. The body's not used to it. And the chief mentioned there is a lot of physical therapy that he has to go through.

And that is a very challenging road ahead. But guess what? I bet you it is better than being locked in a storage closet all of those years, but his muscles were weakened. He did not use his body the way that we do. He's sitting. He's sedentary his entire life. But humans are remarkably resilient.

I will say that. And this man proved he had the will to live. And now I'm going to put the affidavit up on the screen for those of you that want me to read it pretty much word for word in case you're interested. And then I will close with what's to come. On February 17, 2025, at approximately 8.42 p.m., the Waterbury Police Department received a complaint

for an active fire. What it looks like here, it says that 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan called it in, and the police were dispatched, and upon arrival, the fire department was already on the scene and began working on the active structure fire. One of the officers observed that the Waterbury Fire Department had already made entry into the residence and removed, who was identified as a male victim with a date of birth

of March 7th of 1993. He was immediately brought to an ambulance for medical treatment, And then one of the officers reported that the stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, was standing outside and uninjured. The fire was mostly contained to the second floor and there were multiple rooms on the second floor and heavy fire, smoke, and water damage from the incident. In other areas of the house sustained smoke and water damage as well, and that was from the firefighters doing their job. The officers checked on the victim in the ambulance where he was being treated for smoke inhalation. His hair was matted and uncut. He was very dirty and his teeth appeared to be rotten.

He was conscious and alert, although he was having difficulty speaking. The victim reported that he intentionally started the fire in his room on the second floor using a lighter hand sanitizer and paper because he wanted his freedom. He stated that he had been locked in his house his entire life and held captive at the residence. Since he was approximately 11 years old and he specifically mentioned his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, kept him locked inside his bedroom. The lock was on the outside of his residence. bedroom door, he was transported to St. Mary's Hospital for treatment before being transferred

to another facility that has been omitted from this report, and he was listed as being in critical condition due to smoke inhalation. A detective arrived on scene and he was updated by the officers, and he introduced himself and spoke briefly to Kimberly, who was on scene in a vehicle with her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend. She reported to the detective that she didn't know what happened, and that she woke up to smoke and went into the victim's room, and she stated that she saw a large amount of fire in his doorway, and she said something about a TV, and she was screaming at him to get out of the room. She stated that she guessed he ran through the fire

because he did end up outside of the room, and then the detective asked if the victim was diagnosed with medical conditions. Kimberly stated that he has a lot of problems, but isn't diagnosed with any conditions since his father was against using doctors. She said that she had brought the victim to a psychiatrist a few times because he mentioned hurting himself in the past and if asked if he had been locked inside of a room, she stated that his door was not locked

and he had free reign of the house. Hmm, that's interesting. Then the detectives did a cursory walk through to try to find the origin of the fire and they found a burn pattern on the floor of the second floor bedroom consistent with a fire being set in that location and there were various burned papers and debris. They moved items around the second floor bedroom

and removed the door to the room and that's when the detectives observed that there was a slide lock on the outside of the door frame which would be used to secure the closed door from the outside of the room and the door from the room had a latch that appeared to match up with the location of the slide lock. Kimberly refused to meet with detectives and stated that she has spoken with an attorney

and will not be speaking to the police And once the victim had recovered to the point where he could speak with investigators, two interviews were conducted. The first was on February 21st and the second was on March 3rd. Both interviews were conducted at the medical facility where he was recovering. Each interview was audio and video recorded. When asked when his earliest memories were of being locked in his bedroom, he stated that his earliest memories start around age three.

The family was living at the omitted address of the time and he recalled being hungry, which led him to sneak out of his room at night to get food and fluids to drink. He stated that when the wrappings to the food he ate were eventually discovered, he began to be locked in his room. He stated that at the time, it was only during the evening hours. He recalled drinking water from the toilet because he was only given two cups of water per day. The family had moved to admitted address before preschool. The victim said that he was in the fourth grade and permanently pulled out of school

due to the fact that the school he was attending contacted DCF. He stated by this time in his life, he was always hungry. So when he was at school, he would ask others for food, steal food, and sometimes eat food out of the garbage. This resulted in DCF responding to the home. On occasions, when they were there, he was told by a stepmom to tell them everything was fine. After the second visit, he was pulled from school and he stated that he was provided worksheets for a short period of time, but the skill level never advanced and no one was teaching him anything.

He stated he was always locked inside from the outside and it evolved from a chain locked with a padlock and eventually slide bolt lock. Not only did he demonstrate to the detectives how it operated, but the lock was also observed from the photos obtained from a search and seizure warrant

executed at the residence. He added that when he first moved to the address that submitted, he was in an actual bedroom, locked in. but was then moved to a smaller room. This area was observed during the execution of a search warrant and can be described as a back storage space on the second floor.

He stated he was only there for a short period of time, eventually being moved to an even smaller room. This is where he's been since the age of 12. This space that he was locked in was in the back storage space that measured 8 by 9 feet, and it also had an angled ceiling, making the space that much smaller. He told his doctor that the space had no key,

heat in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer, and that once he was pulled from school, his weekday routine in captivity became brutally consistent for the rest of his life. He would typically go to sleep around 7.30 p.m., depending on what season it was, and he would wake up around 3 to 4 o'clock in the morning for the rest of the whole day and night because he didn't sleep well. He was let out of his room for a limited time in the morning around 8 a.m. He stated that he was tasked to complete several chores in the house, which may take him between 15 minutes to two hours, depending on what he had to do. From there, typically late in the morning, he was brought back to his room where he was locked in there for the remainder of the day and throughout overnight hours until it was time to get out again

and do chores the following day. When asked how often his routine was, he stated nearly every day. And on occasion, he was let out in the early evening hours briefly, and there were times when he would be locked in his room for a whole day. equating to 24 hours straight and on weekends. He would be allowed out of his room for longer periods of time by his father, but this was back when his father was in the picture and when he was younger.

He also said that when his stepmother took his sisters to events and to see their friends, his father would allow him to come out and watch TV with him, and there were also times when his father would let him go outside with him and work in the yard. The last time he left the property was when he was about 14 or 15 years old. He went with his father to dump yard waste. and when discussing his father dying, he stated that his captivity and restraint got even worse.

It got to the point that the only time he would ever be let out of the house once his father died was to let the family dog out in the back of the property, which was about one minute a day, and he was locked in his room for about 22 to 24 hours a day. He stated he was provided sandwiches, deli meats, peanut butter, and occasionally tuna or egg salad, and this was becoming less and less over time. When he asked if he was hungry every day, he stated all day, every day my entire life. Along with limited food supply, he stated he had the equivalent of about two small bottles of water a day and even pointed to two water bottles that were on the table during the interview.

When the detective asked why he never spoke with anyone about his experience, he said he wanted to, but there was a constant threat of longer lockdowns and further diminishment of food. He described a life of being mentally conditioned by his stepmother and that the threat was that he would not see the light of day. That was a quote if he told anyone. And knowing that he had little time out of his room to that point, it was not something he wanted to risk. He also stated that once he discovered a gun while cleaning

and this added to his fears of being hurt. It's really sad, this wasn't in the affidavit, but it's really sad that he didn't think of taking that gun and harming his stepmother, but I guess he's not the evil one. Is he? Back to the affidavit, he discussed how much of his normal day consisted of him counting cars as he looked out of his window and he thought about breaking the window, but he later learned there was a storm window that could not be removed, but stated that under the threat of death,

no one was to see him. This was another quote that a stepmother made. And throughout the years, she would constantly lead him to believe that she was going to start to unlock his door and let him out, but that she needed to see if she could trust him, but that never happened. Then he described the evolution of his bathroom use. When he was a young child, he was only being locked in the room during the overnight hours, and a potty training chair was left in his room to use. But once he reached his teenage years and he was into his adult years, he was forced to use his bottles and newspaper to dispose of his waste.

He described how he urinated in the bottles, and he would have to funnel that into a tube that he created with a series of straws, and then guide those straws through a hole in the window to empty them. That to me is a mixture of disgusting and so heartbreaking and sad. Why? It's just, it's beyond me. I don't understand. He then went on to talk about how he would go number two.

He would roll up a newspaper, tie it with a string that he unraveled from old t-shirts, and then he would use it. So if you can imagine it being kind of like a funnel, and then he would bring it down to the kitchen garbage when he was allowed out to do his short. I'm telling you, he was very resourceful, that's for sure, but it's so sad that this was the reason he had to be. Not only was he emancipated, but there was clearly an issue with his hygiene. He remembered telling the officer that he had not bathed in a year or two when asked about his bathing habits. He stated that when he was still in school, he would get bathed every other night.

But once he was pulled from school, bathing became less and less and less, which ultimately led him to having to attempt to clean himself in his room and along with the bottle of water that he had filled for his fluids, he kept one other bottle in his room each day that he would put a portion of his drinking water into until he could bathe himself with that. He was not provided any soap, but he did have some men's cologne in his room. When it came to haircuts, he said he would cut his hair, and there was actually footage along with this in the warrant,

and it showed him having long, thick, matted hair, and he said he didn't have a haircut in at least three years. Besides the occasional television viewing, with his father on weekends before he passed away, he stated that there was no other television viewing. He did not have one in his room, but he recalled the time when he briefly, like three months, 15 years ago, had a small black and white TV, but it became unusable due to advancements in technology. The real connection he had to the outside world was a radio that was kept outside of his bedroom, and he would listen to local radio stations and try to stay

semi-current with world issues. He was able to learn about basketball and NASCAR, along with a calendar that he utilized to keep track of time. Knowing that his formal education concluded in the fourth grade, he was able to understand everything they spoke about in this interview with the officers, and he stated that he was provided approximately three to four books every year and also a dictionary.

He was never allowed to have friends. There was only one time he was allowed to have fun, and that was Halloween. He remembered the last time he was allowed to have fun, to go trick-or-treating was when he was 12, and he recalled his last costume being a firefighter. But his sisters had friends, but the friends were not allowed over the house,

stating he was their secret and said, I have been kept a secret my entire life. When asked about other potential visitors to the home, he stated that there was hardly anyone who came to the house, and if someone did come, he was told not to make a sound. He said that along with his father and his stepmother, knowing of his situation, his two half-sistered, and his deceased grandmother knew,

but none of them participated in locking him in the room. They were just aware of it. And when asked if any S.A. occurred to him, he said no. He only recalled one instance where he was mistreated physically. He stated around 2005, being home alone, he cut out a piece of wood paneling of the door that he was locked behind, and he was able to sneak out and make his way to the rest of the house

where he found food and ate it. And when a stepmom discovered this, she slapped him in the face. and from that point on, not only was his door locked, but plywood was secured on both sides of the door so we can never get through it again. Asked about medical care, he said he had not been to a doctor since he was a child

and he was only ever provided aspirin. He had never been to a dentist and that was clear. He had severe tooth decay and this is so sad, trigger warning. It's also, it can be hard to hear. He even said he would eat pieces of his teeth when they broke off. Oh my God. When asked about the day of the fire, he described it as being a normal day, doing chores in the morning, but this day he was allowed out to clean off his stepmother's vehicle. And like every other day, he was given his two sandwiches and a snack and sent back to his room

where he was locked until 7 p.m. that night. And he stated he was let out to try to replace a bulb on the small Christmas tree that was on the breakfast bar. When he couldn't complete this task, He was sent back to his room and locked in, and around 8 p.m., he heard his stepmom's bedroom door close, and he thought, same old, same old. He added that he doesn't remember what time, but he does remember making the choice to set the fire, noting that there wasn't a plan to do so earlier that day, but he stated, he knew that when he set the fire, he would have to let it get to a point where his stepmom would not be able to put it out, and that the fire department would have to come.

That's when he used the hand sanitizer, the printer paper, and the lighter. He got the lighter a year earlier after his father died. He was allowed some of his deceased father's clothing, and there happened to be a lighter in an old jacket pocket. I actually, like, giggle a little bit at this because he has a sense of humor, or I don't know, maybe I'm just perceiving it as one, but when asked, how did you know that the hand sanitizer

was flammable? He was like, I can read. So I thought that was funny. He stated that he started the fire on the floor by his door with a stack of games, and once the fire got going good, He started to stomp and yell for help, and he stated that his stepmother yelled to him and asked what he wanted, and he told her, fire. When she opened his door, she asked him what he did, and he told her that the radio had malfunctioned. He stated at that point, he was out of it and collapsed at the top of the stairs, and that his stepmom made him get up and go downstairs to the bathroom to wash his face because she didn't want the fire department to know about his appearance. And I was thinking, that's what this lady was worried about.

His appearance. I really don't think 20 years of neglect will wash off that easily. I think the same thing should be done to her, but anyway, he remembered that when the fire department arrived, his sister and her boyfriend had arrived as well, and he knew this because he could hear his stepmom yelling to them to get a screwdriver

so that she could get the locks off of the door. So there she was trying to hide what she had been doing all those years. The victim concluded by stating that he fell to the ground again with his stepmom telling him to get up. And he stayed on the ground, purposely, and didn't get up so that the fire department

would be forced to come get him. He believed that this was the only way out of his situation. And he was probably right. The rest of this arrest warrant goes over his medical condition. We already heard that he had the threat of respiratory failure due to smoke inhalation. He had to be inobated.

And when he was examined, they saw what was referred to as wasting syndrome. It is significant weight loss and deterioration of muscle mass. He had a BMI, which is a body mass index of only 11. When they spoke to medical staff, this was half of what it should be. It was also explained that anything under 16 is considered starvation and anything under 13 is life-threatening. Wow, he was an 11.

I feel like this was an attempted murder and not just like a kidnapping and mistreatment. It was also noted that re-feeding syndrome needed to be avoided, and this is what I described before. This is a life-threatening condition brought on by severe malnutrition where the introduction of food can have a fatal consequence due to the fact that the body cannot process the intake properly. It's not equipped to handle or break down the nutrients, and this could lead to heart abnormality,

and then that would lead to heart failure. And that's because of an imbalance in electrolytes. He was so thin and his muscle tone was so low, he could barely use his arms for pushing and pulling, and he didn't have full mobility in his midsection either. He didn't have good flexibility or strength or endurance, and he had impaired motor function. He also had bilateral knee contractors,

and this is a condition where the knee joints become stiff and cannot extend due to severe muscle wasting and severe fat loss. His chest and his temples were a concave as well. I can just imagine him being nearly skeletal. By the way that they just described that, his sunken, you know, skin in his face and his temples. It's just unbelievable. He had difficulty multitasking.

He showed signs of PTSD and depression. He didn't even know how to use a microwave. And I'm thinking, well, yeah, I mean, how would he know how to do any of those things? Now, I did tell you that one of his family members spoke out. Apparently, his uncle, Kurt Sullivan. I believe this is one of his father's brothers. I did see an obituary for a Keith Sullivan, I believe,

and I think I saw Kurt's name mentioned as one of the other brothers. But he responded to the police department and provided a sworn statement regarding the victim and stated he had not seen him since 2004 or 2005. He remembered going to the house for Christmas Eve a few years in a row until the family pushed him and his wife away. He remembered the victim as always being skinny, meek, and mild-mannered, and he tried asking him questions, but the stepmother would always intervene.

The uncle said he attempted to reach out over time, but there was no response, and he was concerned for the victim. And about 10 years ago, he spoke with a private investigator who suggested going to the Vital Statistics Office to look for a death certificate for his nephew. In the hospital, after the fire, he said he was so shocked when he saw his nephew. And in his words, he said he looked like a Holocaust survivor. The case of this victim and Kimberly Sullivan is one of the most disturbing and pretty unbelievable cases like this in recent memory. It's a story of an unimaginable cruelty that was hidden behind

the closed doors of this suburban home and a victim who, against all odds, survived and ultimately saved himself. For over 20 years, a child, then a teen, and then a grown man lived in hunger, loneliness and fear, allegedly at the mercy of the very person meant to care for him. The realization that a crime like this is going on forces us to confront very difficult questions. How could this happen in our community? What were the warning signs? How were they missed? And how can this be prevented in the future? Legally, the focus now shifts to the courtroom where Kimberly Sullivan will face a judge and a jury and all the evidence. The locks, the weight records, the victim's own powerful testimony, will speak to what transpired in that house.

And if convicted on the charges of assault, kidnapping, and the mistreatment, she could serve a very lengthy prison sentence, likely decades, possibly a life sentence. And it is worth noting that we know nothing about this woman. We don't know what kind of motives would make her do this. It just looks like serious, monstrous, inhumane treatment. But you also have to ask, Was there mental illness at play? Did she convince herself that this was discipline? I am not making excuses, but these might be things you hear from the defense. So don't be surprised.

Her defense will obviously try to cast doubt, but the consistency, how long this went on, how extreme it was, it's going to be really hard to believe for most of us that there's any justification. Above all, this case is a reminder that sometimes a truth is stranger and more horrifying than fiction. I truly can't believe that these things are real. I really can't.

And I really do thank you for being here. This is not my normal content, but if you like it, let me know. If you want more stories like this that are late breaking, I would be happy to do them. And I will see you in my next one. Bye.