Facing a Monster | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] So, Captain, just where are we? What is this place? So, we're in the town of
Kingsbury at the bridge that goes over the canal on New Swamp Road. July 24th, 2005. Investigators are called out here.
What brought them out here? So, we had a report that a fisherman had been going by. He saw what he thought to
be a toolbox that goes in the back of a pickup truck floating. What did investigators find inside that toolbox?
Uh, they found a woman's body that was uh duct taped and handcuffed and wrapped in a comforter. It was terrible. It was
a terrible thing to see. [Music] In January of 1996, I just finished my first semester of college in upstate New
York. My ex-boyfriend Shawn Doyle and I had been broken up for approximately 4 months. My name is Cece Opinowski. My
mother was going away for the weekend, so I had this whole big house to myself. And my friend Shannon and I, we were
very close. I said, "Well, let's stay at my house cuz there's no one around." It
was just a girl's night. We just wanted to chill out. You know, it's winter. It's cold. We built a fire. My parents
had a great stereo system. So, you know, we put on some music and danced around and, you know, just did girl stuff. We
both went to Sage Junior College, B Al B. I'm really introvert. And she was very bubbly and happy and chipper and
she just she brought me out of my shell. When you were first meeting her, was Shawn Doyle around at the time? Yes. He
was obnoxious. She would argue with him a lot on the phone. And then in January is when this incident happens at
her house. We were having a good time. It was just the two of us. But he keeps calling. Mhm. Wanting to know what we
were doing, wanting to know if he can come over. She had a cell phone and I was like, "Just turn it off." Like,
she's like, "No, cuz if I turn it off, he's going to come here." We finally wake up and all we
wanted was coffee. I had the of the mindset. I'm like, "Oh, I can't go out in public looking like I'm a mess. Let
me go home and get dressed." So Shannon leaves and I get up and go around the house doing whatever, watching TV, you
know, being a lazy teenager and I get a knock at the door and I open it and it's
him and he said, "I just want to talk to you." And once he was inside, things got
much different. He pushed me onto the couch, started, you know, holding me down and restraining me and, you know,
yelling at me, and he picked me up and pushed me against the French doors and kept banging me against the French
doors. After I got done out of the shower and getting ready, I called. Nobody answered. My hair was in a
ponytail and he picked me up, held me up, and cut my hair off. Was gone. just all of
it. He had already been choking me and I thought he was going to stab me. I called her back a half an hour later.
She still didn't answer. And that's when my eyebrows kind of went up. I'm in complete shock. I can't believe it's
happening and I have to figure out how to get out of it. But during this time, the phone continues to ring.
I waited a couple minutes and I called her back. I explained to him, "If I don't answer
this phone, my mother will call the police." So, I do pick up the phone and it's Shannon. I said, "Hey, are you
okay?" And I don't know why I did this, but I started unloading the dishwasher and I'm saying to her, "No, no. Yeah,
everything's fine." "No, no." And no kept coming out of my mouth and he didn't pick up on it, but she sure did.
And that's when she said, "Is he there?" And I said, "Yes." And I hung up the phone that I called the cops.
Believe me, I do realize how lucky I am. Investigators are continuing to piece the case together now that they found
Lorie Leonard tagged and bound with duct tape in a pickup body was found floating
in a toolbox. I'm fortunate that it could have been much much worse. [Music] [Music]
I can tell you that I knew nothing was ever going to be the same and it was going to change the way
I looked and everything. For Cece Openowski, it has taken almost 30 years to talk about the day her former high
school boyfriend, Shawn Doyle, attacked her in her family's home in Hudson Falls, New York, and then used scissors
to cut off her ponytail. What was it like to have your hair cut off in this way? Demeaning.
Demeaning. Think that's why he did it? Probably. Just to make sure he could knock me down somewhere. On that day,
January 27th, 1996, as Doyle went in and out of violent rages, at one point holding the scissors to her throat, CeCe
says she wasn't sure she would make it out alive until she says her college roommate, Shannon McAuliff, called when
she finally picks up the phone. What did you hear in her voice? Fear. Shannon says she knew that Doyle had been
harassing Cece. So when CC told her Doyle was there, Shannon notified police and then rushed over to Cece's house. I
pulled onto her street and I parked and then I saw the the the police officers and everything, so I kind of
went in after the fact. She looked terrified and angry and sad. CeCe says she thought when police
arrived they would make her feel safe, but that's not exactly what happened. They do not put him in handcuffs and
they put us in the back of the same police car. Mind you, all of this time I've clearly look like I've been
assaulted. My hair is completely cut off. And when they arrived at the police station, I was like, why why are we
here? Why is he not why are we in the same room? CC says instead of separating them, police questioned them together
and they made it seem like it was some fight between two young kids that turned, you know, slightly dark. When 48
Hours reached out to the Hudson Falls Police Department, they acknowledged that law enforcement's response to
domestic violence has evolved over the past several decades to better work with and support victims. Police arrested
Doyle and charged him with menacing harassment and trespassing. Looking at it and you're saying, "Did this really
happen to me?" You know, how could this happen to me? CeCe Openski and Shawn Doyle grew up
in the small town of Hudson Falls, located in upstate New York. To protect Cece's privacy, we chose not
to show the actual house where she lived. He was nice to me. He was really nice. When Cece started dating Shawn
Doyle, she was just 15 years old, a sophomore in high school. Doyle was one year older. You know, we would go and do
lots of things together. You know, we just hung out all the time. Cece says Doyle had troubles at home. During his
junior year, Doyle told her his parents kicked him out. So Cece begged her parents to let him move in with them.
Did you feel sorry for him? Oh, definitely. Soon after he moved into Cece's family home, she says she saw a
change in Doyle's behavior. Cece says he became jealous and would secretly follow
her around. Something she says she didn't think at the time was a big deal. when you're a 16, 17 year old girl and
you know you're looking at oh jealousy, you know, he must love me so much and that's why he's doing that sort. He
followed me home. He's so worried about me. But is that really what the case is?
When you you look back as an adult and someone with experience, you know, you you think that's probably not not okay.
And Doyle showed even more possessive behavior that Cece found troubling. He at one point did get a tattoo. It was a
heart on his arm and it had my name in the middle. What did you say? Why would you do that? And his response, I love
you. Was it a red flag? Definitely. During his senior year, Cece says Doyle dropped out of high school and was
working odd jobs that he couldn't keep. And this is where things start to get darker. You know, he he doesn't have any
prospects. He knows that I'm getting ready to go away to school. And to him, his whole life is is about to completely
change. But Cece says she stuck by him, writing in her senior yearbook, I love you, Shawn. And in the summer of 1995,
when she left to attend what is now Russell Sage College in Albany, they agreed to stay together and see each
other on weekends. But at the end of September, things took a scary turn when Cece told
Doyle she would not be coming home every weekend to see him. Doyle showed up at her dorm. He stood outside basically
threatening that he was going to kill me. and now he's threatening not just you, but anyone around you. Basically,
anyone around me. So, he was arrested. Doyle was charged with harassment and trespassing. It was the final straw for
Cece, who says she broke it off with Doyle for good, and he moved out of her parents' house. Later that winter,
that's when Shawn Doyle showed up and viciously attacked her at her home. I know he threatened a lot, but did you
ever believe that Shawn Doyle would have physically hurt you? Not until that day.
Not in that way. After the attack, Cece returned to college and finished up her freshman year, but Shannon says her
friend had changed. I think it had a profound impact on her life. You know, I was always looking over my
shoulder. I bought myself a Swiss Army knife. I'm having night tears, you know, waking up crying, waking up screaming,
not being able to sleep. Awful. Awful. So, 8 months after the attack, when it was time to take the case to
trial, Cece, who was still just a teenager at 19 years old, told prosecutors she couldn't go through with
it. She says she was too traumatized and scared. I didn't want to have to face him in court. I didn't want to be going
over this over and over and over again. I really wanted it to go away. Doyle was offered a deal. He
pleaded guilty to menacing in the second degree and was sentenced to just 3 years
probation. CeCe transferred colleges and moved hours away from Hudson Falls, New
York. I needed peace and I didn't know how to get it. CeCe tried to forget her past, but she
says she was haunted by a conversation she had with the prosecutor. She said, "You know, based on what I see here, he
is going to do this again to another person." And that has for the past 28 years stuck in my head.
[Music] 9 years after CC Openowski left upstate New York for a new life far away from
Sha Doyle, 33-year-old Lorie Leonard disappeared. Say hi, Lorie. Say hi. Lorie Leonard was a single mom who lived
with her two sons, Austin, who was nine at the time, and Zachary, five, in Chinango, a small town outside Syracuse,
New York. She was a a very caring mother. The memories of her just us always being happy together, spending
time kind of always the three of us. Say hi. It was just a lot of love and affection.
Her dream was to have a home, a father figure for her kids and for them to be happy. She wanted the white picket
fence. Jennifer Leonard was Lorie's older sister. We were good friends, but I was a little bit of a bossy mother to
her. I had been through a lot of things already in my life, in my relationships,
and I was very, I would say, overprotective. In 2003, Lori met a man on a dating website,
cupcid.com. His name, Shaun Doyle. Online dating was new back then, so Jennifer was skeptical about him. He was
not charismatic. He was not social. He was like a piece of furniture that you just walked around. But she says Lorie
didn't agree. She only saw the good in people. She would say, you know, he's misunderstood or he's shy. Jennifer says
Lorie told her very little about Doyle except that he lived 3 hours away in Hudson Falls, New York, and worked at an
ice cream factory. She also mentioned that Doyle was on probation. She told me that he was a boxer, that he was
protecting a woman at a bar and was arrested because he used some of his professional boxing moves. Did you ever
see any sort of evidence of his professional boxing? I mean, did he do you think he was even a boxer? I didn't
buy the stories that he was selling her. It sounded like he was trying to be something that he was not. Jennifer says
after her sister met Doyle, Lorie became distant. I would talk to Lori three times a day. And then when Shawn came
into the picture, it was it was a little quiet and things only got worse. I had called her one night and he was over
there and all I could hear in the background was him yelling at her and that I was like, "What is this?" And
she's like, "You know, I'll call you back. It's not a big deal." But I think what scared me more than anything was
when he was caught yelling at her, it stopped. The kind of guys that, you know, don't want anyone else to see what
happens behind closed doors. He was sneaky. Soon after this incident, Lorie ended
her romantic relationship with Doyle. Lorie told Jennifer they agreed to be just friends and that he was fine with
it. And I was like, "No, he's not. Nope. People like that aren't just okay with being friends." Despite the breakup,
Doyle would still drive 3 hours from Hudson Falls to visit Lorie, oftentimes hanging out at the bar where she
waitressed late at night. Sean always called me and he he'd call me to get advice. Dorothy Tucker lived down the
street from Doyle in Hudson Falls and considered him a close friend. I saw a sweet guy who would bend over backwards
if I asked him to. However, after the relationship with Lorie ended, she says Doyle told her he had followed Lorie and
watched her as she went out on a date. I was like, "Sean, you can't do that. She
does not want to be with you." Were you starting to get concerned about him and his behavior at that point? No. No.
Because he agreed with me. I didn't see the monster that he really was. He hid it quite well. On Friday, April 29th,
2005, Lorie, who was living with Jennifer, moved to a new rental apartment. Usually, people are miserable
when they're moving. She was just happy. Lorie's nephew, Dustin Delator, who was
15 at the time, helped with the move. She wanted her own place. She saw her future in that day. Also helping with
the move was Shawn Doyle, who offered up use of his truck. She had asked a couple
other people before that, so he was a last resort. He was still playing the I'm your friend. What was Shawn like
that day? Standoffish, just I mean, quiet. Jennifer says the move went smoothly until Doyle decided to hang
around and stayed with Lorie in her new place for days. It was starting to get on her nerves. Now, 5 days after the
move, Jennifer says Lorie told her Doyle was finally leaving because Lorie had plans to go to Albany for the afternoon.
She was supposed to go pick up the tickets. Tickets to a Yankees game, a gift from someone she had met at work.
Were you concerned at all about her going to pick up tickets from a stranger? Yes, but that was how she was.
She was very trusting. On Wednesday, May 4th, Jennifer called Lorie in the afternoon, hoping to catch her while she
was heading to Albany. And it kept going straight to voicemail. Was that weird? Oh, her phone never went straight to
voicemail. It was never off. At first, Jennifer thought she may have gotten lost on the drive or that her phone
battery had died. It wasn't a thought at the time that that something bad happened, just that, you know, where is
she? 24 hours later, when Lorie never called or returned home, Jennifer notified the Chinangeno police. Patrol
started looking into her whereabouts at that time. Lead investigator Wade Irwin searched Lorie's rental apartment. She
had just moved into the home. There were still lots of boxes, items being unpacked. Didn't appear that there was
any signs of a breakin or a crime that occurred at the home, but her car was there. And he said there was something
else unsettling about the scene. And there was one shoe in the center of the bed. That was odd. Investigator Irwin
says he was determined to speak to one person. The last person that that we were able to determine that saw her was
Shawn Doyle. But before investigators could reach out to Doyle, Jennifer says she tracked down Doyle's number and
called him herself. Sean, have you talked to Lorie? And uh he goes, "No, I haven't talked to her in a couple of
days. Um wasn't she supposed to get tickets the other night?" And I'm like, "Yeah, she was, but we haven't heard
from her since." I'm like, "You know, if she calls you, let us know because the phone's off." off and he's like, "Oh
yeah, definitely let you know." When I hung up, I was like I had chills and I'm like, "He's full of it." He knows
something. [Music] [Music] As the days went by, Chinenango investigators reached out to everyone
who had contact with Lorie Leonard prior to her disappearance, including the man
she was supposed to get Yankees tickets from in Albany. He was an executive for a company. We were able to track him
down. He was interviewed. Detective Wade Irwin says the executive waited for Lorie in Albany and when she never
showed up, he called her and even left a message. who was calling with concern of
where she was. We're supposed to meet up. I got the tickets. I'm here. Are you okay? I hope an accident didn't happen.
His alibi checked out, but Lorie's phone records would reveal a lot more about another person who hadn't called. What
became concerning for myself as a person that cared about her supposedly, Shawn Doyle. Shawn Doyle never called, never
left a message. When Chidanango police went to interview Lor's former boyfriend, he told them that on the day
she disappeared, he left her apartment about 300 p.m. and then drove 3 hours home to Hudson Falls. He just always had
said all along that he left her and she was alive at the apartment. When they checked out his alibi, Detective Irwin
says they couldn't clear him. Yet Doyle was cooperative and even allowed investigators to search his truck and
take photos. When they searched Doyle's glove compartment, they found something curious. There was a key for the serial
number on it. As investigators kept an eye out on Doyle and continued to search for Lorie,
Jennifer says her family struggled to explain Lorie's disappearance to her two young sons. After
several days to several weeks, you know something's up. Your mother's not home. There's a question as we know, where is
she? What's what's she doing? We would say things like, "She got lost. You know, we'll get her. We'll find her." To
make matters worse, Austin and Zachary were now separated, staying with their fathers and only seeing each other on
weekends. We'd lived together our whole lives. That was obviously different, you
know, waking up every day with one, your mom's not there, uh, but two, now your brother isn't. We were suffering and
every day our family was doing something to find her. We were looking for her. We
were a welloiled machine. Jennifer suspected Shawn Doyle had something to do with her sister's disappearance. So
weeks after Lorie vanished, she headed to Hudson Falls and held a demonstration, hoping someone there
would know something about Doyle that could help investigators. We had posters, we had signs, we had Shawn's
name up on signs. If anybody will speak to us, Dorothy Tucker says when she heard Lorie's family was in town, she
immediately called Doyle. I was like, Sean, what's going on? You know, did you do something? I didn't do anything to
her. She's probably off on a beach somewhere with some guy. But you believe Sean at the time? Oh, definitely. Later
that day, when Dorothy passed Lor's family, rallying on the streets, she says she did something she has come to
deeply regret. Like an idiot, I yelled out the window, telling them to go home. Shawn didn't do anything and they needed
to leave. As months passed, with no sign of Lorie, the family's hopes began to dwindle. I made a promise to find a
resolution to this for them and give them the closure and answers that they needed. It was disheartening because
every night I'd call them and give them an update regardless of whether there was positive or negative information.
And then on July 24th, 2005, 3 months after Lorie went missing, we had a report that a fisherman had been going
by in this area here. Captain TonyLair is with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. He saw what he thought to be a
toolbox that goes in the back of a pickup truck floating. Thought it may be useful for him, so he grabbed onto it,
towed it with his boat about a mile and a half, and then they dragged it out of the water. there. The box was locked and
emitting a foul odor. So, police were called and when they broke open the lock, authorities discovered a body
inside and there was contents, pillows, bedding, purse, but right on top was Lorie's Ivy.
Also in the box was a photo of Lorie's two sons. She was handcuffed behind her back. There was duct tape around the
handcuffs. Her feet were bound together and duct taped. Her face from chin to forehead.
Um had duct tape and then once that duct tape was removed, there was a bandana tied in her mouth. The medical examiner
would rule that Lorie died of asphixxiation. I couldn't wrap my head around what they
were saying. What do you mean she was found in a toolbox in the water? I I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't
accept it. Detective Irwin says that's when Shawn Doyle went from a person of interest to a suspect in the case.
Everything started to come together real quickly. We got a search warrant within
hours to go to his residence. During their search, police found sand tubes in his garage that matched the sand tubes
inside the toolbox used to weigh it down. We were able to track down in the home similar handcuffs, bandanas, duct
tape, other means he used that matched what was used on Lorie. Remember the key investigators had discovered in Shawn
Doyle's truck? It matched the lock of the toolbox, tying Doyle directly to the crime. When investigators checked the
bridge near the canal where the toolbox was found, they discovered scratches on the bridge railing that match scratches
found on the bottom of the toolbox. Just tell me about what investigators think happened. What was the theory? The
theory is that he came here with his pickup truck, came to the bridge um somewhere in the center of the canal and
took the toolbox and basically just pushed it over the edge. And then as he did, it scraped across.
Just one day after the discovery of Lorie's body in the toolbox, investigators arrested Shawn
Doyle. What was that moment like for you? Overwhelming. Jennifer says it was time to break the
news to Lorie's two young sons. Zachary remembers the moment even though he was only 5 years old. I felt it as soon as I
walked into the room. And I think my dad was the one that said that she's not coming home. Just kind of fell into him
and just didn't know how to react. I watched a little boy break. He said not a word. Then it was
time to tell 9-year-old Austin. You know, I left out kind of like a shriek and and kind of just collapsed uh in my
dad. And that I can still kind of feel it. And he wailed. It wasn't a cry. It was it was a
pained gutter whale. I'll always have that sound in my head. Jennifer says she couldn't truly mourn
her sister because she had to prepare for Doyle's upcoming trial. I was going to make sure that he got what he
deserved. [Music] [Music] In late summer of 2005, Cece Opinowski received a phone call from her father.
Her exboyfriend Shawn Doyle had been arrested for murder. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't believe
it. You don't want it to be true, and it's terrible. When CC learned the victim was 33-year-old Lorie Leonard, a
single mom of two young boys, she said she was overwhelmed with extreme guilt. That was a breaking point for me. I felt
for her whole entire family and her two young children. CeCe says she was haunted by the choice
she made as a traumatized and scared teenager. And all I can think about is if I could go back, I would have done it
differently. I would have pressed my charges much further. So just weeks later, when
investigators reached out to Cece and asked if she would testify at Doyle's trial, she was determined to help. I
need to make sure that he is put away for for murdering Lorie. At this point now, I'm
angry. I'm not fearful. But Cece was not Doyle's only ex-girlfriend, who investigators hoped
would testify against him. 5 years after Doyle attacked Cece, he allegedly tried
to kill 23-year-old Sarah Walmer. When the investigators came a couple months ago and got me out of my work, 48 Hours
reached out to Walmer and received no response, but she did speak with the CBS affiliate in Albany about the attack in
2005. He had tied me up with shoelaces and um put the duct tape back over my mouth and then just began strangling me
until I passed out and then my mother walked in on it. Doyle was charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second
degree and assault in the third degree. But again, a deal was made. Doyle pleaded guilty only to the charge of
unlawful imprisonment. A judge sentenced him to three years probation. On January 23rd, 2006, Shawn
Doyle's trial began. It was a day that Lorie's sister, Jennifer, had waited for. I was going to be her advocate. I
was going to speak for her. I was going to speak for the boys. When Doyle entered the courtroom, Jennifer says she
was caught off guard because his appearance had changed. What do you look like? Choir boy. He'd grown his hair. He
had a sweater on. Kevin Courtright, now retired, had only been district attorney
for less than a month. He says key to his case was making sure Doyle's other victims, Cece and Sarah, would be
allowed to testify. Often times, judges do not allow a defendant's prior bad acts to be brought into trial. Why were
the women so crucial? It shows what he was capable of. He'd done it almost exactly the same in the past. It's his
modus operandi. It's strong proof. Despite the defense's objections, the judge ruled that CC and Sarah could
testify. But first, DA court presented the jury with all the pieces of physical evidence that pointed to Shawn Doyle,
like the items they found in Doyy's garage and home, the sandbags and handcuffs. And what about that bandana?
He wore a bandana 24 hours a day. He had bandanas in his bedroom. He had bandanas
in his truck. The bandana in Lor's mouth was the one I believe he was wearing that day. And then there was that
toolbox. Courtright called to the stand a clerk from a local AutoZone store who says she sold Doyle the toolbox just one
week before Lorie disappeared. She identified him perfectly. She even identified his shirt he was wearing. And
the most important piece of evidence, that key found in his glove compartment that tied Doyle directly to the box.
That was as strong as evidence as you could get. Retired journalist Don Leman covered the trial for the Postar
newspaper. The key to the toolbox was there was no way around that. Then Courtright called Dorothy Tucker,
Shaun's once close friend, to the stand. He says she was a major witness because
she provided information as to how they believe Doyle transported Lorie's body from Tinango. 3 hours over to Hudson
Falls after he murdered her. He just kept calling me. Dorothy told the jury that the day that Lorie disappeared,
Doyle stopped by her house. In the back of his truck, she says, was a very large
cardboard box. I said, "Sean, what do you got there?" He saw just garbage junk I had at
Lorie's. He said, "Take it to the dump." Da court believes Lorie's body was in the box and that at some point Doyle
transferred her body to the toolbox. Dorothy testified just days after his first visit. Doyle showed up at her
house again and the cardboard box had been replaced by a large tool box. I walk out and I said, "Hey Sean, what do
you need a toolbox for? You don't have any tools to put in it." And he laughed and yeah, yeah, you know. So then he
started saying about a friend he was going to meet him. They were going to go fishing. Dorothy said Doyle told her he
was going to fish by the Champlain Lock Canal area, a place he knew well and frequented often. Doyle had even taken
Cece there many times when they dated. Lori was in the box that day and he was taking her to dump her in the canal
where she was later found. District Attorney Courtright called Cece Openowski as his last witness. He always
put the best for the last. I was very, very nervous. CeCe told the jury about the attack and the longlasting mental
anguish Shawn Doyle caused her. What did you want Shawn Doyle to see? That I wasn't afraid. That you're not my scary
anything anymore. When it was the defense's turn, Lehman says they tried to poke holes in the prosecution's case.
There just was not not a lot of holes to poke. We reached out to Shawn Doyle and
members of Doyle's family, but they declined to be interviewed. After three long days of
testimony, the case went to the jury. Lorie Leonard's family members held their breath. I felt like I hadn't
exhaled in months, and that's what I needed. I needed to exhale. Despite all the evidence against
Shawn Doyle, retired journalist Don Leman says no one knew which way the jury would rule. But there have been
times that we've seen many cases where the jury does things that just kind of defy the evidence. On January 26th,
2006, after just 2 and 1/2 hours of deliberations, the jury came back with a verdict. Guilty of seconddegree murder.
When the guilty verdict was read, Lorie Leonard's family burst into cheers and sobs, but Shawn Doyle showed little
reaction. Guilty. Mhm. What went through your mind when you heard that word? Thank God.
Why does it still affect you? Because bad things happen to good people. I was relieved
and happy that he was going to be punished for what he did. For Cece, it was difficult to process the fact that a
person she once loved was convicted of murder. To me, it almost felt like there wasn't a man left inside of him, but
more like a monster. for your crimes to become worse as you go, to almost perfect
them, to think about them in that serial fashion. One month later, before Doyle was sentenced, a judge listened to
testimony and read over victim impact statements from Lorie's friends and family. Prison isn't even the right
place for someone like him. It's not punishment enough. It's a good picture. That's a good one.
Austin and Zachary. Lorie's sons were too young to attend trial, but both wrote letters to the judge. She let me
sleep with her when I was scared. And when I see something scary and hear something scary, we used to sing songs
we like the most together. I think my mom was the greatest mom in the world. My mom, my brother, and I had
really great times together. I'm also sad because I'll never see my mom anymore now because of what happened.
Shawn Doyle was sentenced to the maximum 25 years to life with the possibility of
parole. Was that enough? I didn't think so. You don't want him getting out? No. Mm-m. There's no forgiveness. No way,
man. No. None. He's a danger to society and I I hope he never gets out. Dorothy Tucker, who initially stood by
Doyle, says she feels betrayed by him. He lied straight to my face. And here is someone that I
trusted, thought I knew, never saw that side of him. Dorothy hopes Lorie's family will
forgive her for how she previously treated them when they came to rally against Doyle in Hudson Falls.
I wanted to tell them how sorry I was, and I still am. That was totally uncalled for, and it was unacceptable
behavior on my part. Don Leman, who has covered many domestic violence cases in his almost 30 years as a reporter, says
there are important lessons that can be learned from Cece and Sarah's attacks and Lorie's murder. Every case of
domestic violence is a potential homicide. They all have to be taken seriously. They all have to be handled
in a way to protect these victims. you know, as a young woman with two young kids. It's just mindboggling that these
kids lost their mom to a guy like this. Cece, who bravely came forward to tell her story, hopes that others can
learn from her. Be vigilant. Look at what's happening in front of you and make sure someone
knows. Don't keep it quiet. Pay attention. And when you have that feeling, that one that doesn't go away,
you know, the one that you try to push down, that's the one you should listen to the
most. She says she is ready to let go of the guilt she has felt for what happened
to Lorie. I've waited so long and I've had to live with it for all of these years.
It's not her fault. It's the system that failed. She did what she had to do. I don't blame her. I feel sad that she's
felt guilt all this time. How do you want your sister to be remembered? Glorianne.
She so fun, so funny, so loving. For Jennifer, she longs for the life she always thought she would have
with Lorie. We were supposed to be living in the same place and going out and raising our kids and
having parties. And that's what it was supposed to be. That's what we were supposed to have. And I'm it. Just me
and the kids trying to get along without her. [Music] What do you miss the most about Lori? In
moments where I'm really sad, where I'm like, I just need her to hold me. And she hasn't been able to do that in 20
years. The search for her killer went cold. Investigators took DNA evidence. They
could not find who it belonged to. Can a clue from the past? I can see a footprint in blood. Solve the crime.
These belong to the killer. The footprints defined the path of this case. 48 hours is all new. CBS next
Saturday 10:9 central and streaming on Paramount Plus.

A teenager survives a vicious attack by an ex-boyfriend. Years later, she faces him in court after he murders a young mother. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

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True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Cece Opinowski recounts her attack by Shawn Doyle, who later murdered Lorie Leonard, leading to his conviction.

Key points

A Terrible Discovery. Investigators find a woman's body in a toolbox, shocking the community.
Cece's Night of Horror. Cece recounts the traumatic night when her ex-boyfriend attacked her.
The Aftermath of the Attack. Cece struggles with the emotional scars left by the assault.
Lorie Leonard's Disappearance. Lorie goes missing after planning to pick up Yankees tickets.
Suspicion Falls on Shawn Doyle. Lorie's family grows concerned about her ex-boyfriend's involvement.
Cece's Testimony. Cece Opinowski bravely testifies against Shawn Doyle, revealing the trauma he caused her.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Believe me, I do realize how lucky I am.

Cece reflects on her survival after the attack.

4:04WatchMay 15, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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