A Stabbing in Colts Neck | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] foreign [Music] country Horse Country [Music] bucolic upwardly mobile wealthy type of community
flew in it's a quiet place [Music] tiny unassuming house thank you just a simple farmhouse
called snack has a lot of these yes this beautiful little Farmhouse with this beautiful Farm star you know in the
middle of it [Music] in July of 2013 I was an assistant prosecutor in Monmouth County New Jersey
Donna and Chaco was alone she had just gone to bed for the evening an intruder came into her house and
attacked her stabbing her repeatedly 9-1-1 where's emergency oh my name is Donald Chuck I just got stabbed really
bad the kid just came in and stabbed me crazy I'm pouring gushing beloved I'm losing consciousness
keep your eyes open Donna yeah Donna I was driving home it was maybe like three o'clock in the
morning 3 30. as I pulled up closer I saw big SUVs cop cars lights flashing everywhere
I was like aware is my mom and they were like well she has been attacked and she's on her way to the hospital
they couldn't tell me whether she was alive or she wasn't [Music] I was new into Major Crimes I didn't
have the experience at some of the older detectives so I'd never seen that much blood and before
why would somebody do this who did this what did she ever do to anybody you know
on that night in the early morning hours we got a 9-1-1 call from a worker from this restaurant
about how far from Donna's house are we standing right here this is about an eight minute drive
they called because they saw a subject walking through their drive-through average detention police
knocking on Windows carrying a knife one of the witnesses who saw the young man she agreed to come in and give us a
sketch everybody was asking about the police question it was in every store people were
frightened can you tell me about the tip I get a call the woman on the other end says that
she's calling about the stabbing in Colts Neck she said I think my cousin may had something to do with that
[Music] thank you [Music] tiny Colts Neck New Jersey sits just 50 miles from New York City
but it might as well be a world away so in July 2013 this quiet community was rocked by news of a violent home
invasion where the victim was stabbed repeatedly the only thing more shocking my name is
Donna unchako the victim survived I lost in total close to three quarters of the blood in my body
[Music] there's no earthly reason why I'm alive none if I had asked you at the time to
give me a list of a hundred things you're worried about where would have home invasion been oh no never
[Music] worked for a company that brokered fuel for ships on the nearby Jersey Shore
she and her daughter Kirsten lived in this farmhouse on the edge of flower fields
she was 20 when she had me so we're only 20 years and one day apart friend Sharon sharp hired Donna decades
ago Kirsten had just been born yeah Kirsten was a baby I thought she was really Brave being a
single mom very young [Music] I was by her side all the time Kirsten who now works as a welder
recalls what life was like just prior to her mother's attack we were going to the
gym multiple times a week Not only was she like mentally strong but she was physically strong she was so fit she did
Tough Mudders with Kirsten I like that competition I like to show strength physical strength things couldn't have
been any better at that time that's when Saturday of July 4th weekend rolled around Monmouth County detective
Andrea tazi says they were having a heat wave it was humid but we had no rain or
anything like that I mean it was a dry night so Donna had her windows open she had her windows open just to start
obviously to circulate air Kirsten was out at a party so I was home doing laundry I'd say about
11 11 30 um I decide I'm gonna get ready for bed I let the cat out I went brushed my teeth
but just as she was drifting off to sleep I heard what I thought was the cat I heard
something and I remembered oh I forgot to let the cat in without turning on any lights Donna
headed downstairs to open the front door for her cat but instead when I opened the door I saw
someone standing there in the Split Second after seeing this person on my porch I saw the knife
I was trying to cut into the screen of the window that was right next to the front door
she says she didn't recognize the young white male standing right in front of her holding a large knife I tried to
slam and shut the door my fingers were protruding out he stuck the knife through the opening and cut my
finger so that I immediately let go of the door and then he pushed his way in I'm backing into my kitchen we're face
to face it didn't register to me that he was actually going to stab me but without a word that's exactly what
the stranger did he slashed my cheek and you can see that here and actually it starts back here there was no way to
process that that happened Donna's attacker came at her with the knife again he then slashed three times
on the side of my neck she tried grabbing the knife but only cut her own hand in the process did you
feel like you were dealing with somebody who was really strong no but I felt like he was very sure
like he was very in control of himself Donna was starting to weaken from the injuries
I felt like my legs were going to give out so I braced myself against the corner of
my bathroom right next to the front door sure enough she slid down to the floor I
was in fetal position and I'm bleeding and he came over and it was kind of like he was playing you know with the knife
and just started jabbing at me so that's when he caught me here um and he got me in the back of my neck
here finally Donna's attacker spoke to her this was when he decided to ask me for my car keys and if I had a lighter a
lighter I just answered him there's a lighter in my purse and my purse was on the
table back in the kitchen so he went over and was rummaging through my purse and got the keys got the lighter
Donna's assailant ended up taking her entire purse with him but not before returning one last time to Donna still
bleeding on the floor he said you dead [ __ ] and plunged the knife into my chest
once he plunges the knife in and then removes it what does he do then he just walked out the door
with no Neighbors in earshot Donna knew she must get help somehow your phone isn't in reach no my phone was upstairs
in my bedroom charging Donna had no landline in the house but even as the blood was draining rapidly
from her body she had one pressing concern above her own Survival Kirsten could come home and find me I just
didn't want her to have to experience any level of the horror that I had just gone through or any other levels in
finding me there dead so this is a mother's instinct as pure as it gets yes absolutely yeah
you know you have to get upstairs if you're going to be able to make a call for help right
how do you get up those stairs so that I don't know there was divine intervention
that helped me up those stairs No Doubt no doubt in my mind [Music] she's a tiny little woman
you have to imagine that many stair wounds and she just willed it she was not going to die there
former Monmouth County assistant prosecutor Lori Gerhart says Donna unchako was determined her daughter
Kirsten would not come home to find her dead she knew she had to get to her cell
phone upstairs I don't remember my feet or my hands actually touching the stairs
the energy that it took for me to get up off the ground and up those stairs I was
definitely guided the amount of strength that goes into that is just unimaginable but the motivation
was you yeah yep maybe I was there guiding her in spirit once Donna made it upstairs she faced a
new challenge after peering out her bedroom window she had a car sitting right here and she
had a car sitting right in this area I could still see the car was there and I could see he the car was on and he was
in it if I take my phone off the charger it's going to light up he's going to see
the light a freighter attacker would come back for her Donna did her best to hide the light of the phone then just
getting it to work became the next hurdle my hands are covered in blood my touch screen I was trying to swipe and
swipe so I ended up having to wipe my hands off wipe the phone off wipe it down on the bed and then I was able to
do the touchscreen and get through to 9-1-1 my name is I just stabbed I mean he stole my car
okay okay just stand up on me okay where did you get stabbed in the next one is Cushing out and in the chest
detective Andrea tazi says Donna's ability to place that call despite her injuries was amazing but then Donna did
something even more extraordinary she gave a detailed description of her attacker
I'm white real skinny curly hair blonde dirty blonde hair backpack it was pretty chilling to listen to Donna and
be able to hear her accurately talk about this is what happened this is what he looks like I'm losing consciousness
and then hear her Fade Out yes ma'am you're right my finger just sat down for a minute
police and paramedics arrive less than eight minutes after Donna dialed 9-1-1 but her attacker had already fled
Donna was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center and into trauma surgery
it would be a few more hours before Kirsten arrived home from her party to a house surrounded by flashing lights I
saw the caution tape and that her car was gone police told Kirsten what happened to her mother you were deeply
shaken oh yeah I remember at one point my knees buckled they had the SUV the undercover cop car the trunk was open so
I was like can I sit here because I feel like I'm gonna pass out as Kirsten was processing the news an all-out Manhunt
had already begun for Donna's a salad detective tazi says another 9-1-1 call had come in shortly before Donna's
attack now it was fun to pick up my daughter and there was a kid hitchhiking from a driver who saw someone walking
along the road near Donna's house they saw a young man with a backpack and khaki pants he was walking close to the
fog line and kind of stepping into traffic and she felt that he was kind of a hitchhiker
how old about I'm going to say like 18 19 20 some something like that she was concerned because she just thought that
maybe he needed help in some way and was a car dispatched yes yes they didn't find him though
still the Good Samaritan driver had inadvertently given the investigation its first leave I felt that the
hitchhiker was my person it was too coincidental for that time of the night in that area for somebody to be walking
and then 15 minutes later Don is calling say that she was stabbed and there was about to be another tip
not long after Donna's 9-1-1 call from a fast food restaurant five miles from her
house they saw a subject walking through their drive-through knocking on Windows
carrying a knife and it looked like it had blood on it employees from the Taco Bell quickly
called police you have any description of them yeah he was wearing um we know like those army pants and he had no
shirts he was white but like really like bushy hair but it was like long like the skater type hair how old was he
I don't know he looks like he was like 18. police rushed to the Taco Bell and started canvassing the nearby shopping
center they didn't find their suspect but they did find something else so there had been a bolo put out on on
Donna's vehicle be on the lookout right and in the process of looking for this person here they found the car Donna's
stolen car this BMW had been ditched behind a movie theater it was lights on and it was running so
it clearly was an abandoned vehicle tazi says the car would become crucial there was blood all over it and so we
were hoping that we would get some kind of DNA evidence of our suspect did you we did
[Music] Sharon sharp will never forget the dread she felt when she arrived at the
hospital to see her friend Donna onshaco only to be told she wasn't there I'm picturing the color draining from your
face in the air leaving your lungs like totally no this cannot be there's no waste she has to be here did you think
maybe she had died yes it turned out with her attacker still on the loose the hospital had admitted Donna under an
alias to protect her Sharon was allowed to see Donna the next day an intensive care room I've never seen
before it looked like an enlarged massively enlarged cockpit wall because there were tons of machines
behind her and she looked almost like a puppet surgery was seven hours I believe
despite losing three quarters of the blood in her body trauma surgeons had saved Donna's life
but at a tremendous cost you may find the pictures you're about to see disturbing I pretty much looked
like a living cadaver I had 37 Stitches on my face and neck 38 Staples in my chest seven stitches in my
hand and now internally my sternum is wired shut and as for that final stab to Donna's
chest just before her assailant left it missed my heart by the edge of a dime is one I remember them telling me
the edge of a dime when she talks about the margin that the knife missed her heart by yeah if she was any
slouched over anymore that would have been it Kirsten says as soon as her mother was
able to talk she had one simple request I remember her saying all I smell is this blood in my hair
can somebody please wash my hair Sharon says they got permission and then she and two of Donna's family members
did their best to wash down his hair as she'd lay in her hospital bed we were determined to see if we can make her
smile so we turned it into a ridiculous idiot session with three of us like a factory line we
laughed through our tears and anytime anybody would get too serious we'd make it funny
but her hair was far from Donna's biggest concern she was sure her attacker would find her and finish the
job she was convinced that he was in the hospital and we kept telling her know you're here under an alias I survived I
stood face to face with him I could 100 percent positively identify him he's coming back for me detective tazi
says they were pretty sure the young man knocking on windows at the Taco Bell drive-through shortly after Donna's
attack was their suspect within two days a customer who saw him met with a police
sketch artist and was able to provide pretty great details on the person she saw that night
investigators then took the sketch to the hospital what did Donna say when she saw that sketch she said yeah that's it
was incredibly accurate she tweaked it a little bit she said that yes that looks
like the person who stabbed me his his curly blonde hair he was like a surfer kid or a
skateboarder or something like that former assistant prosecutor Lori Gerhart says the sketch of the suspect was soon
plastered all over Monmouth County and on law enforcement social media so people are obviously talking and trying
to figure out do we know where is he from who is this kid and it's scary because
you'd like to have a sense of Security in your community investigators reviewed the cameras of
stores in the shopping center near the Taco Bell to see if they'd get lucky and spot their suspect hoping the more
images they had the more likely the chance of identifying him we were trying to go back and look at video from
various businesses to see the description and really to put out the bolo like this is who we're looking for
security cameras had captured the suspect once again the surveillance we got from this store over there was from
the inside the store but it was pointing outwards I see and it definitely caught
him oh yeah you could see him walking as police kept looking for the suspect Donna was turning a corner at least
physically amazingly after just four days Donna unchako was released from the hospital
Sharon says that was all due to the training Donna had done prior to the attack clearly she's very physically fit
she wouldn't have survived this if she wasn't it's an amazing thing you were out in
four days but as you leave the hospital you are also walking back into a world where whoever did this to you is still
out there right but also I wasn't going back to the farm I wasn't going back to my house
no there was no way in fact Donna would never step foot in her house again she and Kirsten moved in
with family living in New Jersey then just eight days after the attack not long after the police sketch began
circulating detective tazi's phone rang I take the call and the woman on the other end says that she's calling about
the stabbing in cold snack I said okay I said how can I help you and she said I think my cousin Brennan
Doyle may have something to do with that it was the first time tazi had heard the
name Brennan Doyle he was just 16 years old his cousin told tazi word was going around her family that Brennan was
involved in the Colt's neck stabbing the cousin had seen Brennan just days prior
to Donna's attack between July 3rd and 6th because he was up in Connecticut for her wedding with his family he had
attended her wedding he attended her wedding and she was able to provide us a picture of what he looked like during
the time he was up there for the wedding the photo she sends is Brennan with long
curly hair wearing camouflage shorts looking very much like the kid in the sketch and more importantly on the
videotapes Brennan's resemblance to the sketch all around town was about to become even
more important because of what the cousin told detective Kazi happened a few days later she was staying at
Brennan's family's lake house in New Hampshire as a wedding gift and Brennan his brother and the mother
showed up there unexpected hang on this woman is in Lake Winnipesaukee she's on her honeymoon yes and all of a
sudden there's Brennan Brennan's mother Brennan's brother crashing her honeymoon
yes and the dog but what was even more surprising was Brennan's appearance Brennan's hair was
cut and next time she sees him he's cut his hair yes so that's a big red flag yes
Brennan Doyle's cousin told investigators that Brennan showed up just days after Donna's attack hundreds
of miles from home with his hair suddenly cut short similar to this like Donna the doyle family resided in
Colt's neck former assistant prosecutor Lori Gerhart we lived in a very nice house
two sons a mom and a dad the life of a typical Colt's next teenager it's a life of wealth it's a life of privilege
Doyle was a student athlete on wrestling and hockey teams detective tazzy started
digging into his background he had never been arrested there was never any charges filed against him prior to our
investigation according to the prosecutor's records police had been called to the doyle house for what they
referred to as family conflicts the location of the home would turn out to be very important where did Brennan live
so if you make a right up here and you go up maybe a quarter of a mile on the left so that's close yeah
the teen and his family lived within walking distance of Donna's house up the very road that driver had reported
seeing someone she described as a young hitchhiker just prior to Donna's attack when does the doyle family return to
Colts Neck later in July with Brennan and his family back in town tazi reached out to the family saying
investigators were canvassing the neighborhood what happened when you went to the house we spoke with Mrs Doyle she
was nervous her voice was cracking and did this raise an eyebrow for you it did we asked if Brennan and his brother
could come and look at the composite sketch and if they had any idea who that person might be on the sketch did
Brennan come out he did tazi says she wanted to see Brennan's hair to confirm what his cousin had told
her that it had been cut much shorter it seemed the teen tried to stay a step ahead when it came out to greet the
detective he was wearing a hat he was wearing a baseball hat I think wearing a baseball cap was a
calculated move it might have been but it didn't work you could tell his hair was cut short
next tazi showed Brennan the police sketch of the suspect the same one Donna helped tweak to look just like her
attacker how did he react he looked away he looked at it looked away and said I don't know
I don't know he was nervous and he was scared and he got very quiet there is a reaction eyes are down no eye contact
people are nervous Mom starts redirecting the conversation Doyle's family and his attorney denied our
request for an interview we asked CBS News consultant defense attorney Matt troiano to study the case File and I
think that that probably confirms what they believed going in Brennan's odd behavior and resemblance
to the sketch and video evidence may have been striking but with nothing else to go on yet tazi thanked the Doyles for
their time and left did you know that was your guy I was pretty confident that we were on
the right track with him but we also have a duty we had other leads that were coming in so we were doing a lot of
follow-ups as investigators worked the case Donna was struggling weeks after the
attack the reality of what had happened to her had taken hold I lost everything that night I lost my home had nowhere to
go I lost my car they took it into evidence Donna you lost more than half your blood exactly I
lost I lost a lot Donna says that's when in addition to her physical recovery she faced a new
challenge symptoms of PTSD started to show up I'm not eating I'm not sleeping I don't care
about anything I'm angry I'm sad I'm happy I'm you know every emotion Under the Sun at any minute I felt like I was
going crazy I was always thinking I don't know who this kid is but he climbed through the window in that
second that I fell asleep and now he's hiding in the closet you know kind of crazy thoughts Sharon sharp says Donna's
fear meant even friendly visits required a new protocol including announcing her
arrival every step of the way so as not to trigger Donna I'm gonna come around the hedges now and I'm going to enter
the backyard I'm going to be touching the gate in three two one I would shake my keys first which had bells on them
say it's me Sharon I'm coming the investigation lasted through the summer of 2013. Brennan Doyle remained the only
likely suspect detect says investigators took the next step in September we got a
warrant to obtain his DNA his fingerprints photographs of him just things that are personal to him
when the results came back there's a fingerprint match then ultimately there's a DNA match Brennan Doyle's DNA
was a spot on Match to unknown DNA found in Donna's car in a number of places 11 different DNA samples and pieces of
evidence found in that vehicle and really there's no reason why Brennan Doyle's DNA should be in This Woman's
vehicle he's a stranger to her one more crucial piece of evidence was found in early October in the most
unexpected spot repairmen were servicing an air conditioning unit that was on the
top of the strip mall they found the knife on the the roof right near the air conditioning unit a knife looking
weathered as though it had been there for months found on a bowling alley roof in the very same shopping center where
the Taco Bell was located and where Donna's car had been abandoned how important was the knife it ended up
being very important because the knife was from a set we determined that that knife matched another knife that we knew
came from the doyle household that had been taken months earlier through a Twist of timing and fate the
Colts Neck police already had another night from the Doyle home taken after police were called to the house a few
weeks prior to Donna's attack following an altercation between Brennan and his brother there's a knife that's
apparently used by the younger brother in a threatening manner police are called police take the knife and the
situation ends there was no charges or anything that came of it but they secured the knife in their evidence
Vault it was the same brand name the same look it was a silver knife it was from the same collection correct
that was kind of the icing on the cake to get a search warrant they had moved during the course of this
investigation so we got a search warrant for their new home the search of the new Doyle residence
also in Colt's neck turned up the rest of the knife set matching the one found Atop The Shopping Center
in late October 2013 Brennan Doyle was arrested what kinds of charges was he facing
serious ones attempted murder carjacking weapons possession these are the most serious of crimes that we have
what do you make of the evidence against Brennan Doyle take a look at the complete investigation at 48hours.com
months after Donna's brush with death her alleged attacker Brennan Doyle was in custody facing six counts including
attempted murder and carjacking he pleaded not guilty and you have to look at the seriousness of the offense the
prosecution felt the crime warranted triang Doyle as an adult even though he was 16 at the time in a juvenile court
Brennan is looking at four years maximum in her Youth Detention Facility in adult
Court he's looking at up to 30 years a judge would rule an assistant prosecutor gerhart's favor but there was
a catch Doyle would now be entitled to post bail said it's 760 thousand dollars which he did
when you heard he was out did all of the fear come rushing back it wasn't so much
fear as it was anger that he was even allowed to be bailed out the thought of running into Doyle
terrified Kirsten she says he even haunted her dreams I didn't realize how much it was affecting me I had no idea
until I was like falling asleep and all I see is his face as prosecutors developed their case the
details of what happened that horrific night began to emerge what does Brennan Doyle say happened the night of July 6th
heading into the morning of July 7 2013. mushrooms he says he was under the influence of a
hallucinogenic mushrooms according to investigative reports he examined Matt troiano says that on the
night of Donna's attack Doyle claimed he was losing touch with reality and had gotten into a fight with his father he
has a knife in his hand dad kicks him out and he kind of loses his mind makes bad decisions police thought it was
likely that Doyle who lived a short distance away approached Donna's home looking to steal her car I don't know if
his intent was to kill Donna certainly when he started stabbing her that became his intent to me what he's doing is he's
getting rid of the witness Gerhart believes Doyle did not act like someone incapacitated by drugs Doyle
drove five miles to that shopping center after leaving Donna's house this kid manages to ditch a knife he abandons the
car and that's not a kid who's so high on mushrooms he doesn't know what he's doing
troiano says while a lot of the evidence against Brennan Doyle was strong the knife the security camera videos one
thing put this case over the top what is going to seal the fate of this boy this
kid is that there's DNA in her vehicle that links to him it's indefensible but as it turned out there would be no
need for a defense in August of 2015 Brennan Doyle agreed to a plea deal in return the prosecution dropped all but
the two most serious charges carjacking and attempted murder it was very important for me that he
admit his guilt if he took the plea he would have to confess his guilt to the court in October 2015 Brennan Doyle now
18 years old appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court for sentencing Donna who'd attended every court
appearance was there to face him one last time even though I felt overpowered by fear I wanted him to see
me as strong and as a survivor it was an emotional day for Kirsten there to support her mother when you
would look at him in court what do you remember feeling anger he's very angry sorry
the drugs turned me into the monster that night Doyle was permitted to address the court
I pray and hope her wounds will lessen and she will recover eventually I am asking you
to forgive me going to prison will be the hardest thing I will ever have to face my life
I'm afraid Brennan Doyle was sentenced to 15 years in state prison the law requires him to
serve at least 85 percent of that time justice has to be done on both sides and we we have to be sensitive to that we
have a 16 year old kid who for the most part had absolutely no prior history the
court has a balancing act to do it did it feel like justice it did not what would have felt like
justice to you more like 30 years 40 years 50 years if not longer even with Doyle off the streets Donna
was still struggling she had found PTSD and domestic violence support groups but says there were none
for victims of random attacks so in 2015 she decided to create her own survivors
of violent crimes reason we took to the support group was to help each other cope Donna connected
with fellow survivors Tiffany Ott and Dana Richards together they held meetings and felt gratified they could
help when more survivors joined they are finding relief and knowing that they're
not alone but Donna says her work isn't done her future plans include helping victims connect with trauma therapists
and offering self-defense classes as she grows her support group she's also educating others she travels to
prisons meeting with inmates and addresses police Cadets so they can understand the victim's point of view I
got up I made it up the stairs cell phone was but I got through to 9-1-1 she survives
and she's building a life how could anyone not applaud that [Music] Donna says the physical scars that
remain are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life this is artwork they're beautiful artwork
you could either get sucked into the darkness or you just keep going I did what I had to do to
to be here today and go another day [Music] the heartbreaking case of Gabby Patito
[Music] Insider disappearance the story you haven't heard hear from Gabby's close
friend a lot of couples look nice on Instagram there's everything behind the scenes you don't know 48 hours Saturday
on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus

A woman outwits a young stranger who attacked her in her own home. What will it take to find him? "48 Hours" contributor Jim Axelrod reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

Brief Summary

Donna Unchako survives a brutal stabbing, leading to the arrest of her attacker, Brennan Doyle, and her journey as a survivor.

Key points

A Violent Home Invasion. In July 2013, a quiet community was shaken by a brutal home invasion where the victim, Donna, survived despite severe injuries.
A Mother's Instinct. Despite her injuries, Donna's primary concern was her daughter Kirsten finding her in a horrific state.
The Attacker's Identity. Detectives received a tip linking a young man named Brennan to the attack, raising suspicions about his behavior post-incident.
Brennan Doyle Arrested. Brennan Doyle was arrested in late October 2013, facing serious charges including attempted murder.
Donna's Journey to Healing. After her attack, Donna created a support group for victims of violent crimes.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There's no earthly reason why I'm alive.

Donna reflects on her survival after the attack.

5:21WatchMay 26, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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