My Name is Victoria | Full Episode | Forensic Files

My story is evil. Sort of getting a taste of hell, but it's a story that needs to be told.
My name is Victoria, but it's not my real name. I'm going to take you to a really dark
place. I was 19 years old. I was an absolute rocker chick. That night I was with a few friends. We
were gearing up to go out and look at Christmas lights. As I was going home that evening, I know it was just after
midnight. I was pulling into my complex. I noticed my gate was wide open. It [music] was extremely dark in the
parking lot and the lights in over my carport [music] were um glitching [music] and
I thought I had heard the sound of possibly somebody coming through the gate. It was
that sound of tires going over like a rail. Just the [music] sound. I had taken my dog and um stuck her
inside my jacket [music] and then folded her up real tight cuz it was very cold outside.
And as I got out, I just had the weirdest feeling that I was being watched. [sighs] And
as I got up to the sidewalk, I saw a shadow go in front of a light. And as I did that, a guy just came up uh
and fastly approached me and he kept saying, "Excuse me, excuse me. I'm lost. Can you help me find where the beach
is?" And then a second person comes up. He had a cigarette in his hand. And I [music] see this in slow motion in my
head. I see him flicking it. And I said to myself, "Watch where it lands." And then bam, I got pounced from the
front and from the back. He slammed a gun to my head. And he's just like in my ear, I'm going to kill
you so bad. I'm going to throw you off the cliffs. I'm going to mutilate you and throw you down the cliffs.
And I fought with everything I had in my soul to not be a missing person or to have a toe tag at the end.
Victoria's story is a miraculous tale of survival. But even nearly 25 years after the
attack, it's not over. Which is why she's not using her real name on camera. I've been referenced as Jane Doe for
many years. I just remembered thinking, I don't have a tow tag. I lived through that night.
A warning. Some of the details of Victoria's ordeal are difficult to hear. With sheer will, Victoria survived a
series of terrible events, beginning with the assault on that Christmas Eve. Her attackers came out of nowhere. One
she thought was Hispanic, the other an intimidating Asian man who, according to Victoria, was the one calling the shots.
that night. >> Bam. I got sandwiched like a bear trap. He gouged me in the eyes as hard as he could and [music] he
slammed a gun to my head. He tells me, "Bitch, you're going to die tonight. I'm going to effing kill you."
And at that [music] moment, my little puppy dog, who was caught in between all this, bit him so hard in the
wrist and he says, "What the f was that?" They both [music] kind of broke free for a second. I threw my dog in the
bushes as I ran because I didn't want her to get killed. And then my hair got pulled back and
then they both jumped on top of me and just started beating me. And he just takes his gun and he slammed it into my
mouth and he takes my hair and he turns me to the side and he says, "Do you see that?" And it was the Hispanic man with
his gun pointed at the windows of my neighbors. And the Asian guy says in my ear,
"The first one, the first one, the first one >> that hears you, they're going to get
their head blown off and you're going to watch. >> The first one." >> So, it's your choice. And
[sighs] I heard this really loud smack, what I thought to sound like maybe a bowling ball being dropped on
cement. When I came to the door was opened and they threw me in. And then he asked me where the cliffs
were. Take us to the cliffs. Do we need to go to the cliffs? He's trying to get me to pick out where
I'm going to be thrown to. And as we were going, I I had this flash of my funeral.
So I zoned out of that and I said to myself, there's two guns, silencers are on them, and
nobody knows I'm missing. So it is going to be game on from this point. And I need to think of everything I can
cuz all I have is my mind. That's my only weapon. So I'm like, there are no cliffs around here. I don't
know where there are any cliffs. They ended up pulling over in front of someone's house
and the Asian guy said, "Bitch, take your clothes off." And he took his gun and showed me that it was loaded.
And he put that into my ear and told me not to get any ideas cuz he will have no
problem splattering my brains in this car. And proceeded to rape me for the first time.
And then he proceeded to say, "I needed a beach girl for my Christmas present to
myself because I'm gonna throw you down. I'm going to make sure the cops see you." He had a specific role for me.
And I felt like my only chance to live was to rewrite that role. just so happens that I have in my wallet
a friend of mine's newborn baby picture that she had mailed me and I remembered saying that I had a a kid I
had a baby and you're going to let me out so I can go and see my son and he says [ __ ] you
think I'm going to let you go after you've identified me and I said you poked my eyeballs out with contacts
in them. I can't see right now and then it got real quiet and I just thought, did they buy that?
Did they buy that? Victoria was desperately trying to gain their sympathy. Yet, the assault continued for
what felt like hours. The two men taking turns raping her at gunpoint in the back
of the car. And when things couldn't get worse, they did. The man in charge became even more sadistic.
And I'm like, "This guy is psychotic. He is an animal." I just remember thinking,
"At this point, I would rather die than continue where where I'm at right now." And he rips the door open, rips me out
by my hair. I'm naked. He's got me with a gun to my head right here. Right here.
And so I'm on all fours like this. He's telling me, "Bitch, keep your head down.
Keep your head down." Right as he goes to pull the trigger, the other guy throws a jacket on me real
quick and he goes, "What the are you doing, man?" And the friend says, "She's cold, man."
And here I am on the ground going, "Oh my god, the guy has caved. He feels something
for me. And it was that pivotal moment. He comes down to me and he said, "One, two.
By the way, [ __ ] merry effing Christmas. Run. I just kept thinking evil has crossed my path. I was
kidnapped. I was tortured and I was left for dead. By the grace of God, I knew the right words to say and I
ended up getting away. I was like, "Oh my god, did I really make it? Am I not in a car?"
Victoria was suddenly free, running for her life. A family took her in and called 911. But before she went to the
hospital, Victoria returned with investigators to the initial crime scene. They were looking for evidence.
Victoria was looking for something she had left behind. I got out and I'm calling for my dog,
Shasse, Shasse. And I didn't hear anything and I'm like, oh my god, I probably killed her when I
threw her. And I'm crying now because I'm thinking she's dead. And [sighs] I heard this screech sound
like this. And I saw her and I'm like, Shassy, come here, girl. And I look over and
these officers are at the end of the sidewalk balling and jumping up and down and saying, "She found her. She found
her." It was a perfect moment. We got to the hospital. We went into the waiting room.
You know, it was kind of all confusing because at 12 years old, I didn't understand what was happening and no one
was saying anything and all we knew was just that my sister was hurt. I had red marks going across each one of
my eyes where apparently his nails had gone in and uh cut the backs of my eyes. I had a semi- dislocated shoulder. I had
dislodged part of my hinge in my jaw. Majority of my teeth were extremely loose. I lost a lot of hearing from the
head trauma. I was in so much pain that on a scale from 1 to 10, I would have registered a thousand.
I guess the way you could explain it is it took the air out of my lungs. It was just devastating.
Nothing that any child that age should have to see. She was always the strong one and always
our rock and now she was made into nothing. Now she's the one that needed us. They took me
into hiding at my grandmother's house in Huntington Beach. I wanted a shower. I wanted to be clean.
And I remembered my mom and she just lost it. >> My mom couldn't do it. It was just too
It was too hard for her. So, I took her, you know, but I just had to reassure her. It's okay. I'm going to get you
clean. We're going to make you beautiful, you know. And just if you've ever watched a horror movie and seen
a murder scene in a shower, that is what it looked like. All this stuff was was touching my foot,
my ankles, like something. It reminded me of when I was in the beach. That seaweed would wrap up around your
ankles. I was like, "What is that? What is that? What is that?" She said, "Don't look down. Don't look
down." >> As I washed her hair and as I tried to smooth it out, just chunks of hair came
out. And by the time we were done, probably half of her hair was on the floor of [music] the shower. had just
been held on there by the blood that was in her hair. [music] That day made me an adult.
It was a nightmare and it's still a nightmare and there's not a day that I don't think about it.
My sister's so brave and she was so strong and got me through the worst day of my life,
which was Christmas Eve. I was assigned Victoria's case on Christmas Eve of 1990.
Well, when the case was first assigned to me, I looked at it and I realized we really had a problem here. These are two
violent offenders, I felt certain that they were going to continue to assault. And so, I set everything else aside on
my desk to work this one. >> I remember sitting there and them asking me, "What was the shape of the brow?
What was the face shape? What did their hair look like? We post the composite drawings uh
through the news media on television. Just about any place we could distribute the composite drawings we did, hoping we
get somebody to to recognize them. But investigators had something else. DNA. Evidence collected from Victoria's
body at the hospital and from the jacket she was wearing that night yielded profiles for two men. And there was
another clue, something Victoria remembered her attackers discussing. I know that they were saying
show the respect to Sons of Samoa and and really playing into that as though they were part of that gang. And I saw a
smug, self-centered psychopath. He carved SOS onto my rear end. I know. I've heard of SOS before. They
were a really bad gang. >> I thought that they had uh had screwed up by telling her that and not killing
her. I thought that was a real viable lead. I knew we'd get these guys. I was in a 90% certain range that we get them
real quickly. Detective House told me people like this who do heinous acts will slip up one day
and I'll be there when that day happens. I felt like my whole life was completely
dominated. by this attack. And it really beat me down because I thought I survived it. [music] And the realization
was that my journey had just begun. They broke her. They broke her spirit. She just was different.
She didn't smile. She didn't laugh. I remember when I would knod off to sleep. I was back in the car again.
I would wake up screaming and I would shake like a seizure. I was in the moment every time I closed
my eyes. So, why would I want to close my eyes? >> I'd have to talk to her and talk to her
to get her to realize, "You're okay. You're safe. You're safe." >> Things that set me off would be the
break of a car, a door shutting, the phone ringing, knocks on my door, TV, the news,
>> somebody passed by a window, and I I heard this this quick move and the shadow. They're coming to get me again.
They're coming to get me again. >> I would double check all the windows and doors for her over and over cuz she was
too terrified. [music] >> How in the world am I going to get past this? This one was at the top of the pile for
a very long time. I thought there was enough information immediately to have these guys in jail in a few weeks. We
worked at Sons of Samoa Angle for about a year. There was nothing. There was no rumors on the street. There was no gang
intel. There was no one matching the descriptions. [music] So, I had to come to the conclusion that it was a false
lead. What didn't we have in this investigation? We did not have a license plate. We did [music] not have
fingerprints. Nobody else saw the bad guys coming or going. What we had was a lot of nothing.
But we knew we had to work the DNA. And in 1990, DNA evidence was just starting to become popular. And so we
had this good DNA evidence that would tie us to somebody. We just didn't have a big enough data bank to make the
connection. It was incredibly frustrating. >> After the days turned into weeks and
turned into months, >> I'd have to tell her, "No, we got nothing." >> And then years went by. case had gone
cold and actually gone to the point to where we weren't actively doing a lot with it.
>> Knowing that they were still out there made me fear for every single person on
the street in the daytime walking amongst two demons cuz they were out there and nobody knew who they were.
for my sanity and my health. I was going to leave the state and start over fresh.
It was amazing. It felt like the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. Eventually, I made it to where it wasn't
with me every day. I could sleep through a whole night. I was regaining some of [music] my inner
peace. And I think with that allowing myself to feel again, I had made a phone call to an old friend
and [music] the day he showed up, he never left. And then I ended up having twins. It's
the highlight of our lives. In one day, I received a phone call that I waited for for 18 years. I said,
"Yeah, we got him." We finally got a DNA hit. [music] >> This was the best part of the story.
>> Yes. Yes. >> To know that one of them was caught. >> Just to confirm that she could identify
him, we arranged to send the photo line up to her. >> So, the moment I looked at this lineup,
I immediately knew. >> And she goes, "Number one, no. Number two, no. Number three, no. Number four,
no. Number five was him. >> That's the face I see every night when I go to bed before I fall asleep. That's
the nightmare I have. I don't have to look at number six. >> When I [music] saw his face, I said,
"You're caught. It's you and I've caught you and you're going to go down." >> Please welcome from Huntington Beach,
California, Joe Sun. the name to the DNA was a man named Joseph Sun. >> Rather than going and hiding and staying
away from the limelight, he was in the MMA. >> And now he's in command on the ground.
>> It all came together. That's why he was doing all the wrestling type moves with
me. >> Oh, now he's working the choke. He's got around. He's no longer armed. >> Joseph's son was in the DNA database
only because he had a conviction after he kicked in the door of a former roommate's car. As part of his plea
deal, son had agreed to submit his DNA, and that's what led to the hit in Victoria's case in 2008.
But investigators couldn't believe what else they found. He was an actor with a role in a Hollywood blockbuster. Austin
Powers, International Man and Mystery. I had his movie sitting on my rack. I remember running over to there and just
destroying it because I thought, "Are you serious? He's in my home." So, we're trying to give you your
opportunity to tell us what happened that night. >> I've never done anything like that. I
have no idea what you're talking about. >> Completely denied the crime. Completely
denied any contact with her whatsoever. >> That's nasty. That wasn't me. >> We knew that he was lying to us. I
prefer confession, but sometimes a lie is just as good. >> Despite Sun's denials, there was that
DNA. So in October 2008, he was charged with multiple counts of rape and kidnapping and then the case was handed
off to another DA brand new to the sexual assault unit. It was my first day. I had been on the
job in sexual assault for maybe half an hour. I just pulled a case down by random and
it's the Joseph Sun case. I cannot believe the horrors that this woman had to go through. This is my
entire case load. I'm never going to survive. This is a case that you have to work
for. You have to fight for to make sure she gets justice. I was glad we had Joseph's son, [music]
but I wanted to find the second suspect. You know, he's dangerous. You know, he's
out there. That was my priority number one. [music] When I got this case, it kept me up at night.
We had identified one of the suspects who had assaulted Victoria and I knew there was another one out there.
And that's really where I focused my initial energy. So, we decided to put Joseph's son's picture out on a bulletin
along with the sketch of the second asalent and we put it out to the media. >> We weren't getting anything. mean
nothing. And we're going, come on. You know, this somebody has to know this guy. And then a couple of days into it,
we get an email from a man who wanted to be anonymous. >> He told us he didn't know anything about
the crime, but he knew Joseph's son in high school, and he knew one of Joseph's friends, and the sketch looked a lot
like that friend. It's a couple of months of hard detective work and they were able to put together a very good
profile about who this individual was and where he was living >> and his name was Santiago Gayon.
>> We still need to identify him. We still have DNA evidence for the second offender. So, we need to get his DNA and
compare that. >> Two Huntington Beach detectives set up surveillance outside of his apartment
complex. They were there for maybe 30 minutes [music] and they saw Santio Gaiton walking out of his apartment
drinking a bottle of sun-kissed soda and throwing out the trash. Finishes his last drink from the bottle and puts it
on top of the dumpster. The detectives get out of the car, they grab the bottle, they bag it, they grab the
trash, they take that with them, >> and what do you know? Was a DNA match. >> So Santio Gaiton is arrested. That was
the best night's sleep of my life. >> Mr. Gaiton had minimal criminal history. He had moved out of state and
essentially had tried to start a new life for himself. He had a wife. He had a couple of children. He was like anyone
else you might meet. So, we've identified the suspects. Now is when the real work begins. Anytime
you have a case that's 18 years old, you know there's the potential for things to
go wrong. Memories fade. Evidence gets lost. So, I wanted to make sure that I dotted my eyes and I crossed my tees.
Let's get ready. Let's get ready for trial. >> But things did go wrong. Very wrong.
Deputy DA Scarbor made a sickening discovery. It had taken police so long to track down the suspects. The statute
of limitations for rape and kidnapping had run out. It was like my stomach had hit the
floor. There was the very real likelihood that we were going to have to dismiss the case and they were going to
walk out of the courthouse scot-free. >> Oh my god. >> I spent the weekend looking for
different ideas and different angles. I reread through the entire case file and so a light went off. Why don't I
charge torture? There was no other way to describe the defendant's conduct other than they had
tortured her. Because torture carries the possibility of life imprisonment. There is no statute of limitations.
There was still going to be an opportunity to bring Victoria justice. One of my absolute best days,
bar none. Santiel Gaiton's attorney ultimately approaches me and says his client is
willing to plead guilty. >> I agreed that a plea deal would be acceptable, but he needed to confess
what he did. He confessed to everything. And they gave him 17 years. Son decided that he wanted to go to
trial. He wasn't going to confess to anything. Then let's get ready to go. >> An actor from the Austin Powers Movies
goes on trial in Orange County this week for charges of a violent rape. >> The trial took place in August of 2011.
Victoria was essential to this prosecution. >> I had a job to do. My job was to put
away what I considered one of the biggest monsters ever. >> I was terrified for my sister cuz I knew
that she was going to have to see him. My biggest concern about going in the courtroom
was making eye contact. I didn't want him to be able to wink at me or do anything that would give him
the sensation that he was doing something to me again. So, I didn't allow him eye contact.
>> The testimony was heart-wrenching to hear. The jurors were horrified >> and they needed to hear every single
detail. >> There were jurors who had tears in their eyes. >> There wasn't a dry eye in the whole
courtroom. >> Joseph's son did not testify during the trial. At various times throughout the
case, he would attempt to yell out, "That's a lie. They're making this up. [sighs]
>> When I was waiting for the jury to make their decision, in my head I thought,
was everybody affected? Did they believe me? Did they see the evidence? DNA is DNA.
>> There are no guarantees in a jury trial. >> What if 99% of them feel one way and one
doesn't? The jury deliberated for a few hours before they reached the verdict. >> He was guilty.
Guilty of torture. I just thought you son of a [ __ ] Now you're the one who has your hands
behind your back. Have a little taste of my life and what you put me through. Joseph's son was sentenced to seven
years to life in prison, which meant that theoretically he would one day be eligible for parole. But then just one
month later, guards made a gruesome discovery. No one was safe around Joseph's son.
No one's safe. In my [music] career, I have dealt with what I think is some of the worst
of the worst that humanity has produced. Joseph's son, I think, deserves a place
at the top of that list. Joseph's son was convicted and sentenced. He was transported to state
prison. Within a very short time of being there, he murdered his cellmate. The fact that the cellmate died of
punches, kicks, and blows It just sounded exactly like the person that I was with that night who did the
same thing to me. >> Under California law, if you're serving a life term in prison and you kill
somebody in prison, that could be a death penalty trigger. And so it would be possible for them to
file a death penalty case against Joseph's son for this. And if so, Victoria would need to come and testify
at the sentencing to say, "This is the crime he committed against me. He's bad enough a guy to warrant that level of
punishment." Honestly, in the very beginning, I didn't think he deserved to live,
but there was a lot more to it than that that I had to think about. I didn't know
if I had enough energy to do this battle. I understood they wanted to put him to death.
I mean, he [music] killed somebody. They tried to kill me. He's an animal. But I just felt at the end of the day
that I was done. I had a life to live and I wasn't interested anymore. So, prosecutors dropped the death
penalty for Joseph's son's upcoming trial. But Victoria's ordeal was still not over. It's hard to believe, but once
again, she found herself in a fight for her life. I had noticed in May of 2014 that I wasn't feeling that great. I
shared with my husband that and he said, "Get to the doctor immediately." He just had a bad [music] feeling.
I was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. I think you for a minute or so lose your faith
that why is this happening to my sister so many times? Why is she being attacked in different [music]
ways? Why can't she just have a beautiful happy life? Why now does this have to come in?
I needed to get in immediately. and start getting treatment. >> When she got diagnosed, I told her, "I'm
going to shave my head because I didn't want her to go through it alone." And I wanted to make her feel that I
supported her. [music] To shave your head for someone in my heart meant that I'm traveling with you.
It made me feel like I wasn't the only bald person in the room and it made me feel like I had someone
like me there. >> Can you see? I apologize. >> I've managed to bounce back pretty good.
>> I'm in remission and I'm just going to stay in that light for as long as it allows me to.
She has that something in her that allows her to bounce back even when bad things happen to her. It's quite
remarkable of her to do that. I don't know if it's in her DNA or in her karma, in her personality, the way she was
raised. I have no idea. For her to not only survive, but to survive well and do well is is it's a
miracle. It's miraculous stuff. I chose the name Victoria because I find that it's more rewarding and more healing to
be called Victoria because it was a victory. It was [music] an epic victory. There is happiness after tragedy.
It's okay to be happy again. I've had my kids. We're in a good place. I'm healthy again.
And I rock out every chance I get. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.
[music] >> [music]

A California woman who was kidnapped, tortured and left for dead reveals her extraordinary tale of survival and the hunt that led to an "Austin Powers" actor. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

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Brief Summary

Victoria shares her survival story after a violent attack, the investigation that followed, and her battle with cancer.

Key points

Victoria's Ordeal. A miraculous tale of survival after a brutal attack on Christmas Eve.
The Attack. Victoria recounts the terrifying moment she was assaulted at gunpoint.
The Escape. Victoria's desperate fight for survival leads to a miraculous escape.
The Aftermath. Victoria's struggle with trauma and the long road to recovery.
DNA Evidence Leads to Arrest. After 18 years, DNA evidence finally leads to the capture of one attacker.
A Case 18 Years Old. The potential for things to go wrong looms over the 18-year-old case.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just remembered thinking, I don't have a tow tag.

Victoria's realization of her survival.

4:14WatchDec 9, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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