March of 1984, when authorities escorted 25-year-old Jeffrey Ducet through the Baton Rouge airport to face charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, the victim’s father suddenly appeared, shot Ducet while news cameras were rolling. On March 16th, 1984, Jeffrey Duce was extradited to Louisiana from California after kidnapping Jodie Plch.
But little did he know that the father of his victim, Leon Gary Poche, was waiting for him at the airport to let him know he toyed with the wrong child. These are child predators messing with the wrong families. Didn’t hesitate at all. I mean, just shut the door, came right back towards me with the knife. I walked over here and I went like this.
The only thing that he said is, “Move your hands.” Cuz I had him up here and he reached over the top and got my got my knife. December 31st, 1999. Tommy Lindells attacks Kaen Katie Harris and Crystal Surls. Unknown to him though, Crystal survived the attack and she made sure that he paid for his crimes.
Tommy was born on June 28th, 1964 in Oakland, California. One of five kids to a single mother. He had a twin sister, Tammy Jean, but she had died from menitis when they were 18 months old. Tommy got sick as well, but had pulled through. His mom’s boyfriend, thought to be his dad, passed away when Tommy was 11.
Soon after, he went to live with his aunt in Hulcom, Missouri. At age 5, he went back to his mother when she found out that his aunt wanted to keep him for good. By seven, he was sneaking drinks from his grandpa’s stash. Around 8 years old, he started hanging out with another older man who ated him.
At 10, he tried taking drugs. And at 13, he climbed into his grandma’s bed without any clothes, getting himself kicked out. His mom and siblings left town soon after, leaving him behind. From 1978, at 14, he started roaming, never really settling down. By May 1981, he visited family in Little Rock, Arkansas, but his mom had kicked him out after he bothered her in the shower.
After that, his alcoholism worsened, and in 1982, he was arrested for the first time for being drunk in public. Tommy had gotten by with odd jobs, maybe begging or even theft, as he would drift from one place to another by hopping trains or stealing cars. And over time, his crimes would grow. According to Cells, he committed his first murder when he was 15 in Mississippi when he broke into a house.
His killings would stretch over the years and he called himself the coast to coast killer because of how much he moved. On December 31st, 1999, Cells found himself at a trailer home west of Del Rio, Texas, where Terry and Crystal Harris lived with their son and two daughters. They had met Cells at church and he visited a few times, talking to Terry about his marriage problems.
That night, Terry was away helping a friend, leaving his wife, kids, and two visiting kids from the Surles family, Caen Harris and Crystal Surls. At night, Cells would climb through an open window into the trailer. He crept into the girl’s bedroom where Katie had slept on the bottom bunk and Crystal on the top. Tommy had a long knife with him and had covered Katie’s mouth, cutting off her clothes to touch her.
But as she broke free and stood up, she would scream and Cells managed to turn on the light and block the door. That’s when Katie saw blood on herself and cried out. He then grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth again, and cut her twice. Katie fell, choking, and Cell went on to stab her 16 more times.
Then he turned to Crystal, reaching up to her. However, she dropped to the floor, stayed still, and pretended to be dead. Cells then walked out thinking that no one was left alive. Crystal wouldn’t give up. As soon as he left, she got up and ran outside with her still bleeding. Luckily for her, she made it to a neighbor’s house, banging on the door until they let her in and they called the police.
Crystal survived that attack and told the police what had happened. She was able to identify cells from a lineup of pictures. She then led police straight to him. After Tommy was arrested, he admitted to killing Katie and attacking Crystal. He even showed him how he did it in the trailer. After all this, Tommy started talking about other killings he had done over the years, spilling details about crimes across the country.
In the end, the police were able to tie Cells to at least 22 murders, though they think there’s a lot more. In fact, Cells himself claims up to 70 victims, but not all of them could be verified. On January 3rd, 2014, a judge in Del Rio set his execution for April 3rd, 2014. That day at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Tommy faced the death penalty for Katie’s murder.
He was given a lethal dose of pensarbodol and he would die shortly after. May 5th, 1980, Klaus Grabowski, a child, attacked Anna Bachmier, and killed her to hide his crime. Very soon, he’ll learn that Anna’s mother, Maryanne, would be someone he should have never messed with. Born in 1994, Klaus Krabowski looked like a typical butcher.
However, he had a secret ugly side. In the 1970s, Grabowski was caught sexually assaulting two young girls. He then served time for this and would register as a sex offender. Unable to control himself, he would decide to undergo chemical castration in 1976 to stop those bad urges. However, he changed his mind later on and went to some doctors for hormone shots to reverse the castration, which would later prove to be a very bad decision.
May 5th, 1980, everything changed for Anna and Maryanne Bachmier, a mother and daughter who lived next to Grabowski. That morning, Anna had a bad argument with her mom and didn’t want to go to school. She then left home and walked aimlessly until Grabowski spotted her. He would then trick her into his house with his kind voice, saying that she could come in and play with his cats.
Once inside, his true intention came to light. He attacked and Donna. He grabbed it tights and strledled her until she was dead. And after that, he put her body in a box and threw it by a canal. However, when his fianceé found out what had happened, she couldn’t stay quiet and reported him to the police.
When authorities would ask Rabbowski about it, he would obviously lie, saying that Anna tried to get money from him by blackmailing him and that he killed her to stay out of jail. People already knew Grabowski was bad news. His old crimes were embedded in their minds, and reversing his castration made him seem even worse. The police locked him up, and soon he would face the trial for Anna’s murder.
March 6th, 1981. The trial is on its third day with Maryanne Bachmier deciding that she had had enough. So, she had snuck in a Betta 70 pistol and kept it hidden until the right moment. When she spotted her chance, she stands up, aims at Grabowski’s back, and shoots seven times. Six bullets hit, and he falls dead on the floor.
Maryanne didn’t fight nor run. She waited as the police would take her away. People were yelling, running around, really shocked by what they saw. Word of Maryanne’s act spread like wildfire. It got everybody talking about justice. Many people thought she did the right thing. Others thought she broke the rules.
At first, the law hit Maryanne with a murder charge, but that wouldn’t stick because on March 2nd, 1983, her own trial would wrap up after months of back and forth. The court decided she was guilty of manslaughter and carrying an illegal gun, and she would only serve 3 years before getting out on probation. Once freed, Maryanne married a teacher and moved far off to Lagos, Nigeria, looking for a fresh start. This didn’t last forever.
They split up and she would move to Sicily. There she worked at a hospice helping people throughout their last days. Then in 1995, sadly, Maryanne was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She held on for a whole year and died on September 17th, 1996. Maryanne’s currently buried beside Anna in Burg Cemetery, Leubec.
March of 1984 when authorities escorted 25-year-old Jeffrey Ducet through the Baton Rouge airport to face charges of kidnapping and the victim’s father suddenly appeared shot Ducet while news cameras were rolling. February 29th, 1984. Jeffrey Duceay allowed his victim Jod Poche to place a collect call to his family after days of abducting him.
While Jod was successfully returned to his family, Duceay’s case was a whole another story as the father of his victim was someone he shouldn’t have messed with. Not much is known about Jeffrey Duce’s personal history other than that he was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1959 and that he was by his own admission as a child.
Eventually, Duceay would become a Chomo to the point that he couldn’t remember the exact number of boys he victimized. By the early 1980s, Duceay had established himself as a respected martial arts instructor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he met little Jodie Poche, a boy who’d been taking karate lessons. At first, Duce seemed like a trustworthy mentor, but he soon took advantage of Jod’s trust.
One day he asks his students which one of them wants to learn to drive. When Jod volunteered, Duceay made him sit on his lap as he pretended to teach him. That was just the beginning. Over the next year, Duceayually abused Jod in secret. He would often dismiss the other students, sending him to a nearby 7-Eleven while keeping Jod behind.
In these moments, he found the opportunity for abuse. Jod even tried avoiding him and started making excuses to not attend his karate lessons, but Duceay was relentless. This guy showed up at Jod’s house and convinced his mother to let him take the boy with him, believing the lessons were in her son’s best interest.
She never suspected Duceay’s true intentions. Valentine’s Day 1984. Everything escalates when Duce kidnaps Jod and takes him to a motel in Anaheim, California. There he continued him. A nationwide search began, but the breakthrough finally came on February 29th, 1984 when Duceay allowed Jod to place a collect call to his mom.
The call was a big help for authorities, which led to Duce’s arrest at the motel. Jody was rescued and reunited with his family the next day on March 1st, 1984. We were scared and our reaction was just erratic at times. We just, you know, didn’t know what to think. It’s just a waiting that I don’t know a lot of waiting. We didn’t know what to do.
You just feel helpless. Meanwhile, Duceay was extradited back to Louisiana to face charges of kidnapping and sexual abuse. On March 16th, 1984, Duceay arrives at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport. This guy’s in handcuffs, surrounded by law enforcement as local news cameras would capture a shocking moment.
Among those watching him was Gary Plch, Jod’s father. Disguised in his baseball cap and sunglasses, he would wait near a row of payones, pretending to have a conversation while keeping an eye on the scene. As Duce was led right past him, Gary seized his chance. He pulls out his 38 caliber revolver and fires a single shot point blank range.
The bullet hits Duceay in the head and he collapses. Blood cooling out everywhere as shocked police officers rush over. The entire thing was caught on video with one officer shouting in disbelief. Despite being rushed to a hospital, his injuries were fatal and he died the next day. They arrested Gary immediately and the shooting ignited a nationwide debate about vigilantism and parental revenge.
Initially, he was charged with seconddegree murder, but as the case unfolded, public opinion overwhelmingly supported him. Many believed that as a father, he had done what any parent would have done in that situation. And during the trial, a psychiatrist would testify that Gary had been in a state of extreme emotional distress and really couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the shooting.
This psychological evaluation played a key role in his defense. In the end, he accepted a plea deal, pleading no contest to manslaughter. They gave him a 7-year suspended term, 5 years of probation, and 300 hours of community service, which he completed by 1989. The court’s decision really reflected the emotional trauma he’d endured.
But even after all the legal proceedings, the case remained a topic of public discussion. Gary never regretted anything, later stating, “If somebody did it to your kid, you do it, too.” Gary Poche continued with his life and none of us will ever forget him for that one defining moment. His health had declined in the later years and he sadly passed away in 2014 at the age of 68.
He said, “Do you see the gun I have?” He’s like, “Just do everything I say. Everything would be perfectly okay.” That’s when Becky faked an asthma attack. And I just ran. It’s August 7th, 1993. Lewis Lent kidnapped Sarah Anne Wood when she was returning home from church. Now, he didn’t know that the next person he tried to kidnap would outsmart him and bring him down.
January 7th, 1994, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Rebecca Becky Savaresi was walking to school through the snow when at around 7:10 a.m. a stranger steps up beside her at a busy corner. He looked awkward with messy facial hair and glasses. Without warning, he pulls out a gun, holds it to her back, and says everything’s going to be fine if she did what he wanted.
He pushed her toward his truck, and tells her to get inside. But Becky wasn’t going to let this happen. She didn’t care about the risk. She knew she wasn’t going with him. Right then, she would think of a way out. So, she acts like she can’t breathe and pretends that she’s having an asthma attack. She then asked to sit down for a second and starts pulling off her backpack.
When the man reaches for Becky, he grabs the bag instead, and she slips free and runs as fast as she can. Realizing what had happened, the man quickly gets in his truck and drives off. Luckily, Becky found a person shoveling snow nearby, who then called the police. At the same time, someone else saw that truck and gave the police part of its license plate number.
The police wasted no time in locating the truck and found that it belonged to Lewis Lent, a 43-year-old working as a handyman and also used to clean a movie theater. At first, Lent said he didn’t know Becky, but later admitted that he did try to kidnap her. The police would search his truck where they found Becky’s backpack, a gun, and items such as duct tape and rope, things he would use to grab little kids.
After his arrest, police started wondering if Flynn had kidnapped other children. On August 7th, 1993, 5 months before Becky outsmarted him, a little girl named Sarah Anne Wood had vanished in Sakquite, New York, about a 100 miles away. As she was riding her bike home from church, she vanished. When authorities questioned Len, he had confessed he’d kidnapped it and murdered her.
He also said that he kidnapped and killed a boy named Jimmy Bernardo from Pittsfield, whose remains was later discovered by hunters 200 m away. As for Sarah, Lent refused to reveal where he buried her, dodging the question every time the cops asked about it. In 1995, Lent went to court for trying to kidnap Becky and got 17 to 20 years behind bars.
A year later, he takes a deal for a second crime of killing Jimmy Bernardo and gets a life sentence. Later that year, he stands trial for murdering Sarah Wood and plead guilty. So in 1997, Lent was sentenced to 25 years for life for her death. His combined sentences ensure he’ll stay in there forever. A district attorney in New York praised Becky and emphasized how her escape changed everything.
Becky didn’t just save herself. She had stopped a monster from hurting more kids. And kudos to Becky’s mom for teaching her daughter how to fight back if anyone tried to mess with her. She’d been trained to kick, hit, and do whatever it took to get free. But aside from that, a policeman had also visited Becky’s school the year before to teach him how to escape from bad situations.
Luckily, that lesson stuck with her. Every year, Sarah’s brother, Dusty Wood, and his family ride bikes 78 miles in this event called Ride for Missing Children to remember little Sarah. They also visit schools along the way, showing kids how to stay safe and honor the lost and missing kids. Dusty believes that teaching these kids to spot danger is the key to keeping him away from people like Lent.
I woke up the next morning and he was still asleep and I knew that that that was it. That was the time. I just did it as fast as I could and and I ran. I just thought for some reason he was going to wake up and he was going to shoot me through the window. But I was out. June 2002, Richard Evans kidnapped Cara Chamberlain from her friend’s home.
But little did he know that Cara is a girl he shouldn’t have messed with. June 24th, 2002. Cara Robinson Chamberlain was watering her plants in her friend’s front yard in West Columbia, South Carolina, when a car suddenly pulls up. A man in his late 30s steps out dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt, and a baseball cap.
He seems pretty friendly at first, holding up some papers, and asking if her parents were around. Cara explains that it’s not her house and that her friend’s mom wasn’t home either. That’s when things turned scary. The man, later identified as 38-year-old Richard Evanitz, pulled out a gun, pressed it against her neck, and forced her into a big plastic bin in the back of his car.
For the next 18 hours, Cara endured awful treatment with evidence. She didn’t give up, though. She stayed sharp, counting the turns he made while driving, noticing he smoked red cigarettes, and listened to old rock music. Car even remembered the number inside the bench he was stuck in. at his messy apartment filled with pets like a guinea pig and a lizard.
He would tie her up with handcuffs and a gag. Still, she would keep looking for clues to figure out who he was. Cara’s escape came early the next morning. While Evidence was sleeping, Cara worked on getting free. She used her teeth to loosen one hand from the handcuffs, which were hooked to the bed with a clamp and a rope.
She then quietly unclipped a strap around her leg. Barely making a sound, she crept to the front door and slid open two locks. She knew he kept the gun close and might wake up, but she ran anyway. I just did it as fast as I could and and I ran. I just thought for some reason he was going to wake up and he was going to shoot me through the window, but I was out.
Outside, Cara spotted a car in the parking lot, waved down two men, and they drove her to the police station. there. She told him everything which led officers back to Evans’s place with the help from a worker at the apartment complex. And by the time they got there, Evidence had taken off. Inside, they would find a locked box with newspaper clippings about three missing girls from Virginia, Sophia Silva, and sisters Kristen and Katie Lisk.
September 9th, 1996, Sophia vanished from her front porch in Spennsylvania, Virginia, and her body turned up in a creek a month later. On May 1st, 1997, Kristen and Katie were taken from their home and then found days later in a river. Those cases had gone quiet until Cara’s escape stirred things up again. Police had found evidence in Evidence’s car trunk, which tied him to the crimes.
June 27th, 2002, police tracked this guy to Sarasota, Florida, which led to a chase. Realizing his time was up, Evan shot himself. Officially, in August 2002, Virginia police confirmed Evan’s connection to the cases after what they found in his car trunk. For her part in solving those cases, Carara was awarded $150,000 and later met the girl’s families, giving them answers they had waited years to hear.
Cara’s family also stood by her. And her courage proved that this guy picked the wrong kid to mess with. Interestingly, Cara’s story doesn’t end here as she turned her nightmare into something positive. In 2019, she joined other survivors on a TV special to support another teen who had escaped a kidnapper.
She would also team up with Elizabeth Smart to make a documentary called Escaping Captivity, The Cara Robinson Story, which aired in 2021 on Oxygen. The documentary shows how she outsmarts evidence and helps the police stop him. And on February 2023, we’d also see the release of a Lifetime movie called The Girl Who Escaped: The Cara Robinson Story.
Later, Cara had worked with the police herself, helping all sorts of victims and kids until she had her first son. Now married with two boys, she speaks across the country, sharing her story to teach and inspire others. Well, the execution of another confessed killer did go off as planned this morning.
Wesley Allen died was killed by hanging. November 13th, 1989. Wesley Dodd attempts to kidnap James Kirk II from a bathroom of a theater. Now, Dodd would let James go after he drew a lot of attention with his loud screams. But little did he know that he was about to pay for all his previous crimes. Born July 3rd, 1961 in Tapenish, Washington, Wesley Allan Dodd was the oldest of three kids born to James and Carol Dodd.
Growing up, he would feel ignored compared to his younger siblings. And from a young age, he would watch his parents argue all the time. At school, Dodd wouldn’t fit in and had no friends. By age nine, he realized he was drawn to boys in a way that wasn’t normal to him. He ended up finishing high school in Richland in 1979, but his troubles were just starting.
Dod’s crimes began as early as age 13 as he started flashing kids in the neighborhood. His dad knew about this and brushed it off, saying at least Dodd wasn’t into things like drugs and drinking. So in high school, that unusual behavior would escalate to inappropriately touching his cousins and that he babysat, including of a woman his dad dated.
In August 1981, at age 20, he tried to grab two girls, but they got away and told the police. Sadly though, nothing happened. That same year, he would join the Navy and get sent to a submarine base in Banganger, Washington. There he lured boys with money to a motel planning to harm him, but luckily he got caught.
Shortly after that, Dodd was kicked out of the Navy for another flashing incident, and he spent a short amount of time in jail with counseling. May 1984 would bring another arrest for bothering your old boy, but again, he gets off with a light punishment. Now, instead of trying to rehabilitate, Dodge kept looking for jobs in homes near kids, like fast food spots or apartment buildings with families.
Then, in 1987, he tried to trick a boy into an empty building, but the kid refused and reported him to the police. Dot again was arrested and prosecutors pushed for prison, but Dodd walked away with probation and a therapy order he later ditched. He would then move to Vancouver, Washington, and work as a shipping clerk.
However, it seemed Dodd’s crimes would only get worse. September 4th, 1989, he went to David Douglas Park in Vancouver with a knife and shoelaces, looking for boys to hurt. He tricked two brothers, Cole and William Near, into a quiet spot, tied them up, and then attacked them. He mercilessly stabbed both of them, and just ran off.
October 29th, 1989, Dodd drives to Portland, Oregon, and finds Lee Iseli alone at a park playground. He convinced Lee to come with him, saying that he’d take him home. Instead, he brings this boy to his Vancouver apartment, ties him up, and hurts him while taking pictures. The next day, he chokes Lee with a rope, hangs his body in a closet, and later dumps it near a lake where police find him a few days later.
November 13th, 1989 changed everything when Dodd targeted James Kirk II at the New Liberty Theater in Cameas, Washington. He followed James into the bathroom, grabbed him, and tried carrying him out through the lobby. While James didn’t go quietly, he kicked and yelled, making his scene. Workers at the theater noticed and trailed Dodd outside.
Panicking, he let James go and jumped into his car to escape. But just down the road, his car wouldn’t start. James’ mom’s boyfriend, William Ray Graves, heard about this trouble from the theater staff and ran out. He spotted Dodd struggling with the car and walked up acting like he was just helping a stranger. But then he grabs Dodd in a headlock and drags him back to the theater where police were called.
Shortly after, the police take Dodd in and link him to the Portland case. And over the next 3 days, detectives get him to admit to killing the Near brothers and Lee Iseli. A search of his place would also reveal a diary with a lot of details. But that’s not all. Lee’s underwear and pictures were also found.
Dodd was then charged with aggravated first-degree murder for the deaths of the Near brothers and Iseli, plus the attempted kidnapping of another child. Now, get this. Dot initially plead not guilty to all the charges, but later had changed that to guilty. In 1990, he was sentenced to death for the murder of the Near brothers as well as for the separate and murder of Leicelli.
On January 5th, 1993, Dodd was hanged at Washington State Penitentiary, the first US hanging since 1965. One of Tampa Bay’s worst serial killers, has paid with his life. Bobby Jolong, who murdered eight women in 1984, was executed tonight at the Florida State Prison. It’s July 1986. And Bobby Jolong was sentenced to death for murder and kidnapping.
This was made possible by the quick thinking of one of his victims. Born on October 14th, 1953 in Kennob, West Virginia, Bobby Joe Long had a rather troubling childhood. Now, he was born with an extra X chromosome, a condition that made his body produce too much estrogen, causing him to grow some breasts as he grew up.
And as a result of that, Long was bullied and had to undergo surgery as a teen to fix that problem. In 1974, he married his high school sweetheart and had two kids, but they split up in 1980 when she filed for divorce. By 1983, he’d moved to the Tampa Bay area in Florida. Long’s crime spree would start when he attacked and killed 20-year-old Artis Anne Wick in March.
She was hitchhiking from Indiana to Tampa and her body turned up in a field on November 22nd, 1984. He would also break into 33-year-old Linda Natal’s homeing and killing her. That year, Long would kidnap and kill women around Tampa Bay, leaving at least 10 dead over 8 months. Police later tied him to those crimes with things like red carpet fibers from his car found on the bodies.
By this time, Long had killed over 50 women in total. But it was one girl’s escape that stopped him. November 3rd, 1984, Long spotted 17-year-old Lisa McVey riding her bike home from work in the early morning. He grabbed her, put a blindfold on her, and held a gun to her head, forcing her to his place. there. He tied her up and assaulted her for 26 hours.
Lisa knew she was in extreme danger, but she played smart. She pressed her fingers on stuff in his bathroom, like the sink and mirror, hoping police could find her prince later if she didn’t make it. She would also remember vivid details, the sound of an ATM he used, the turns he took while driving, and what his car and home looked like.
After a while, she tried talking to him to gain his trust, saying that she could be his secret girlfriend and made up this whole story about being an only kid with a sick dad. In what seemed like a miracle, that worked. He eventually softened up and decided to let her go. He drops her off somewhere quiet, telling her to keep the blindfold on for 5 minutes while he drove away.
Well, Lisa didn’t waste any time. As soon as he left and she was sure, she takes off that blindfold and runs home. When she gets there, her grandma’s boyfriend roughed her up and asked where she’d been, refusing to believe her when she told him what happened. She kept telling him that it was true, and they finally did call the police.
Lisa tells him everything she memorized, his car, the route, the ATM stop, and even how his place smelled. All these details led him straight to Long. November 16th, 1984, Long was arrested outside a movie theater. The police find more proof in his car and his house. On September 24th, 1985, he pleads guilty to eight murders, plus what he did to Lisa after he made a deal with prosecutors.
In the end, this man was handed 26 life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus seven life sentences with the possibility of parole after 25 years. But the prosecutors kept going. They fought for that death penalty for the murder of Michelle Denise Sims. And in July 1986, Long was sentenced to death.
April 23rd, 2019, Florida’s governor signs Long’s execution order after more than 30 years on death row. And a month later, Long was executed by lethal injection. Lisa, now Lisa McVey Noland, and another supervisor, Linda Natal, were there to see it. Lisa’s currently a police officer working in Tampa, helping little kids at schools and talking to many people about her story.
