Survivor Stories | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] do you know why you're here today to talk about what happened this morning I have a question do I really
have to talk about what happened this morning again because I've told people and I told people and it just crushes me
every say it so I can't I can't really talk about that again 911 what is your emergency um
there was a shoot out in my house and I don't know is dead and I'm scared after death I was 10 when all this
happened I was so young and so little is there anybody else in the house with you no I'm I think I'm the
only one alive I don't know but I'm scared I want my mom I lived with my mother that's
Michelle Conrad I lived with my stepfather Brian Conrad and then my older brother Zach Don I had a dog named
Molly and my stepdad Brian was a farmer and then my mom was also 6 months pregnant I so hope my mom not
dead that night I was having a nightmare and I remember like hearing the gunshots
in my dream but like when I woke up it didn't end the gunshots were actually going off in my
house my mother started screaming screaming and screaming and screaming my I jumped out of my bed and
I'd went and crouched down by my door that's when IID heard footsteps it was very loud he was
stomping I just remember popping up as fast as I could and just taking two leaps back into my bed and just
freezing he fired two rounds off at me I had one of them graze my left leg and my
left arm he returned to my brother's room and I just remember gunshots going off and my brother
[Music] moaning I played dead for 2 and a half [Music] hours I was just like I can't just lay
here I need to do something so I just proceeded out the door and started dialing 91 one can you somebody's coming
somebody's coming I just couldn't get there fast enough I'm cold I'm very cold I could
not get there fast enough I heard my mom scream what in the world could have taken place and why is she the only one
on the phone I want my mom my Robin's home in Pampa Texas is literally in the middle of nowhere so
you have to wonder why this family why this Farmhouse whoever the shooter was whatever his reason for gunting down an
innocent family in Cold Blood he probably didn't count on one thing he left behind a
[Music] witness [Music] it's on Highway 70 it's about 13.3 M out from the bowan alley I have a purple
shirt on I had purple pants on it felt so long before they got there okay they're coming they're coming
they're coming I just kept looking and looking and looking and hoping to see you know someone coming to my rescue all
I want right now is my blanket and my pillow I'll never forget when I turn down the driveway way oh I see him I see
him this child on a phone about a shooting she ran straight to me I hugged her as distraught as she was she's very
articulate just telling me in in absolute detail what was going on and what she heard and and everything he
told me everything was going to be okay they were going to figure it out we're obviously not going in the house with
her I got to secure her somehow out here in the middle of nowhere so I put her in
my patrol car and locked it all the cops had their guns drawn and they were going to clear out the house
to make sure no one was in there and to go see who was alive and who was not alive any crime scene that you go into
you know it's the ultimate who done [Music] it one comment we made when we first got
there is this is like the old American Family everything everything was in place the coffee was set to come on the
next morning Mom Dad children getting ready for the birth of a child the East door to the residence had
been kicked in and whoever entered that Residence at that time immediately went to
[Music] shooting Brian had been shot three times and Michelle had been shot six times and
the dog had been shot twice I guess I kept playing games with myself in my head when is my mom going to walk
out of there when is Brian going to walk out of there where's Molly I wanted all of my family to walk
out of there okay just like I did how that bullet missed Robin I do not know it struck a little drawer next
to her bed Zach had been shot three times laying in his bed appeared Zach never woke up
and Zach never knew what hit him I would never ask the question who's still alive I I wouldn't do it like I just I
just wouldn't do [Music] it Chief Deputy looked at me and we looked at each other and he said go be
with that little girl and uh I just wanted to take care of her best I could I said is is there anything
I can do for you Robin and she said I want to feed my animals and I said I've fed animals before let's go feed
[Music] animals maybe it's just pure survival you know coming from one situation
that's just so traumatic to a diversion I just remember him helping me feed I laughed at the amount of alphalpha hay
he tried to give my goats because he it was like in a large amount and I said no
no she just blew me away she completely flipped a switch and was absolutely bragging about her animal got first or
second in this and her brother got first and second with his animal once we leave
the crows and that moment's over the switch flipped again and it was right back to reality and and and she's
immediately back to crying and cold and she grabbed my forearm finally like I kind of got the courage to
just come right out and say Mom and Brian aren't aren't going to walk out of there are
they broke the law enforcement people's hearts when they had to tell me no that they weren't walking out of there I was
the only one that could walk out of there still alive Zach never woke up and he never he never knew what was
going on so I'm thankful that he didn't have a chance to hurt I'm really thankful for
[Music] that right after it all had taken place I went to my great grandma's house it
was just family after family after friends after people and everybody was crying and you know people were yelling
at the top of their L saying what's going on what's going on what's going on and I couldn't answer questions because
I was just scared I really don't want to go to sleep anymore okay it makes me to
where I'm too scared I really don't want to go to sleep okay so [Music] okay I got put in a room with one of The
Advocates at the bridge there was a microphone in the room and there was a camera in the room he shot in my room
and missed me okay and so I had pretend like I was stand for two whole hours everything was videotaped to make sure
that they had it for evidence and stuff like that did anybody say anything could
you hear anybody talking nobody talked they asked me what do you remember can you describe what he looked like I don't
know this for sure but I thought I saw a white white white eyes white faced okay
know my question to the other investigators was I need to know if she heard shots and if so approximately how
many shots did she hear and when he shot I saw flash she never hesitated in her answer of 15
shots and through the course of the crime scene investigation 15 fired rounds were found inside the home
something that you'd hope no 10y old getting woke up at 3:00 in the morning would have indelibly burned into their
memory I can't talk about it it's it's too heartbreaking one of the things that our
officers were very concerned about was the safety of [Music] Robin because you have to remember at
this point we had no idea who had done this why it had happened or where those people might possibly be
they put us in a shelter kind of thing it was my biological dad my stepmom at the time my step sister at the time and
myself you had to be buzzed in there was cameras all outside of it I understood that it was for my own safety I was not
allowed to leave except to go to the [Music] funeral we knew knew there would be an
outpouring of the community at the service and indeed there was everyone loved the conrades they
were what we would call in the Panhandle salt of the earth kind of people they were real people that we loved and cared
about and they cared about others I just remember sitting there and I would just look at one casket and I'd
look at the second casket and then I would turn I'd look at the third casket and I would do it all over
[Music] again it wasn't fair to sit there and look at that I was at the funeral we did have
surveillance set up at the church just looking for suspicious people no leads were developed through
the funeral services the anxiety and fear among the community went through the roof people were afraid
that there was somebody on the loose that could actually come into their home and do the very same thing so people
were certainly making sure their doors were locked people who kept guns in their homes were making sure they were
close by we're trying to let the evidence speak to us we had the showcasing we have a lot of blood
evidence we found several shoe prints there were some tire tracks that we located on the
property what investigators didn't have was any DNA or fingerprints they knew it
wasn't a burglary so they had to look for another motive there was one theory that it was
a drug hit that uh had got the wrong house all the leads were were hitting dead ends there was no Rhyme or Reason reason
for why this may have happened we all sat around and wondered wow who did [Music]
this [Music] we had no clue who this was there was no reason for it who would do this to this
[Music] family I received a call from a family member trying to reach out to my mother but was
unable to do so so I I I called the house and my mother's cell phone uh didn't get an
answer but wasn't alarmed at first around lunchtime that day I decided to leave work and drive to the house to see
if I could find them once I get to the house a relative is standing outside and he tells me that
my mother and grandfather had been murdered my mom was a very loving and caring mother and was my best
friend and my grandfather was always supportive always there for me had just recently lost my father as
well you definitely feel like you've lost everyone in your life orley M and Don M were the two victims
in the house a relative found ory M lying in the floor with wood and once I stepped
in I found a bullet casing and saw a shell lying on the floor and saw Miss mol downstairs the shell casings that were
there were of a strange I believe like a russan ammunition and it wasn't something you
buy at Walmart or somewhere like that it was a different kind of ammo we were looking at the ammo the shell casings
and one of the other deputies there that does a lot of the crime scenes and said
I just took a burglar report from the night before from uh Scott King just lives down the road Mr King had reported
that his son Levi come into the house while he was gone and broke into his gun safe and stole several guns
and some of the ammo was the same kind once investigators had recognized those shell casings they had their
suspect 23-year-old Levi King law enforcement knew Levi King well he had been in prison for burglarizing a
neighbor's home and then burning it down he was sentenced to 14 years in prison but he served less than three before he
was sent to a halfway house he disapp appeared from that halfway house and was on the Run just a week before the bodies
of the muls were found so we started trying to piece stuff together one of the family members
also said that the orley and Dawn mul's pickup uh Dodge Dakota pickup was gone so it was entered into the computer
system Nationwide is stolen we had a warrant signed for Levi at I want to say like 11:00 that night
and that warrant was issued in the computer for Nationwide pickup none of us knew why this had
happened it it did feel completely random law enforcement kept us AB breast of the situation and had informed us
that they had identified Levi King as a suspect he needed a way to um you know excape the area and so I uh they believe
that he had targeted my grandfather's house as well as the the truck for transportation Levi King was found in
the truck by the border patrol in El Paso he admitted having guns in the back well that Drew their attention they ran
the tags found out they was a stolen truck with a possible suspect from a murderer inside so they detained him
there at Al Paso PD um and actually interviewed him so El Paso Police held in question Levi King until the Missouri
investigators could arrive just 15 minutes into that interview Levi King calmly confessed to killing orle MC and
his daughter-in-law Dawn but he couldn't fully explain why before I uh even realized that I mean I
just Point Adam and fire how many times did you fire just once he he spun and fell over you walk
by to the door and you see this woman why um explain to me why you shot at her I was scared I was I mean I didn't
know what was going to happen to me you know I was panicking [Music] we get to El Paso PD we are met by the
detectives that are working the case I observed Levi standing there knew him said his name he knew who I was we
both acknowledge each other we loaded him up and the pickup up and headed back towards
Missouri during a conversation with Levi he just described that even hours later
he could still smell the Gunpowder the sweat and the blood describing it as a feeling that was
probably better than any drugs he'd ever [Music] done I want to say within the next week
or two I had been told by a couple of the uh Detention officers there in the jail that that Levi asked to see me and
speak with me we got him out of the cell took him to the outdoor exercise yard and somewhere in that conversation
within the next few minutes Levi made the statement you know there's four more in
[Music] Texas at a point time Levi King says you know there's four more in Texas I didn't know whether to believe
him to not believe him he'd been in our jail for approximately two weeks and nobody was hunting him nobody was
questioning him so I don't know why he made that statement describing the location of the
murders he he talked about the big cross in TAS Texas I knew exactly where he was
talking about there's only couple that are that big it stand out like that so don Ruby reached out to
investigators near that cross in the Texas Panhandle to see if there were any open
homicides there were the murder of Robin's family it didn't take long to piece everything together after killing
the muls and driving 500 Miles Levi King decided it was time to kill again the phone call that we received
from the Pineville sheriff's office in Missouri blew open the case for us we find out that Levi had gone in and
killed orley and Don M and taken their vehicle and driven down through Oklahoma to
Interstate 40 at some point in time Levi decides that he's going to exit the interstate
and looks over and sees The Farmhouse belonging to The Conrads and pulls in kills Brian and Michelle and Zach and
shoots at Robin thinking he's killed Robin if there was ever a case where a man deserved to die it was Levi
King but first Levi king would have to face Justice in Missouri for the mol murders there he took a plea deal to
avoid execution he agreed to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of Parole in Texas he also
took a guilty plea but the da refused to take the death penalty off the table the purpose of this trial was only
to see what sentence he was going to get it was about whether he was going to be executed or whether he was going to
go back to Missouri and spend the rest of his life in prison I was 14 about to turn 15 when trial was
taking place I understood that we were in court for the death penalty you know I told
them okay he did this to my family so yeah okay go for it always in death penalty cases what
you don't want the jury to be stuck with is this picture of a person as as a killing entity an evil entity the first
thing we we had to figure out how to do was to turn Levi from a monster into a human being are you Levi Alexis King yes
sir I am Levi had been bipolar at least since adolescence at varying times he had um other diagnosis for depression
for uh bipolar with with some amount of psychosis and then I believe it at some points in time he he had a schizophrenia
uh diagnosis Levi King was one of seven children early on he showed signs of serious antisocial Behavior setting
fires and killing animals and drug use in his home was rampant his father introduced him to hard liquor and
marijuana and by his teens Levi King had moved on to meth and heroin and the place he called home you'd have to see
it to believe it the environment which he grew up in and just the overwhelming poverty and
despair until we went up there and actually walked around in it you just could not get a feel for it it it was
truly frightening the first thing you noticed was just filth the insulation was just
black and melted there was one wall that just had this this massive display of ceremonial knives and swords there was
lots of guns and knives and you know regardless of whether they had food or not there they had money for
ammunition the defense did um a very good job to paint Levi as this poor pathetic
mistreated sad little person there's a whole lot of other people out there in this world that have
grown up in the same type of environment that Levi did or even worse than Levi did and they don't go on Killing
Spree Levi King kills people because he likes the smell of blood he kills people because he likes
that smell of gunm smoke he doesn't care I was going to be sitting in front of a murderer who had killed my loved
ones and to testify I didn't want to but I knew that I needed to for my family's
[Music] sake I was the only one that got to walk out of the house they didn't and they needed a
voice too before she goes in to testify she's absolutely scared to death I just look
at her and I said Robin we've got you back go do what you need to do tell the truth and just realize we're right
outside this door he will never get to [Music] you I tried to avoid looking at Levi
King as long as I possibly could and finally I couldn't resist the urge anymore because I wanted to see who had
actually done this and so I looked at him and the stare that I got back was the worst
feeling of my entire life he is very cold he's very blank and essentially it just felt like
he was staring a hole right through me when Robin testified sorry the hard part about Robin
testifying was to see the pain that that precious little girl had to go through and endure and
then to see her say I've endured this but you're not taking my life away from me I am not giving you that kind of
control I don't want to live with being bitter and being angry all the time for what had
happened I did forgive Levi King because me forgiving Levi King it was my sense of
peace and it was my sense of this is how I was raised and this is my family coming
out we present the evidence the defense has their time to present their case and
we asked 12 people to make a very very difficult decision to either take or not take a man's
[Music] life you asked the question why and that's the question that sometimes haunts you
forever why why this family why this day why this time we may never know probably
the hardest part for people to deal with on these types of crimes the randomness of it the lack of
motive is to understand that there truly are people out there there who are just
plain evil Levi King is one of those people I'm asking 12 people to sentence this man to death this was a horrible
crime and we knew we had to be honest with the jury we tried to get to him and say look
he will never walk as a free man ever that that is punishment and will never harm anyone else
again for years I lived and breathed this case and despite your best efforts you don't always get it
right the jury deliberated for approximately 7 to 8 hours and they came back and said that they wanted to give
him life without parole one of them wanted to give him life without parole the rest of them wanted him to
have the death penalty I credit that with giving the the eventual one hold out enough
strength to to hold out I don't think we ever believe we get a life verdict I thought the best we
would get would be a a hung jury just a look on Lynn's face that almost looked like that she had failed
us but she really didn't ly Switzer fought for my family and that's something I will never be able to thank
her enough and all the law enforcement that was involved and sat on the stand either way ultimately I'd still
won and my family had still won Levi king would be extradited back to Missouri to serve that sentence so I
was fine with him being in Missouri because Texas is my state I don't want you back in my state you've already done
your damage here Pampa is home it's where my mom and Brian and my dad all raised me so to
leave I felt like I was being a coward and I was running from my problems and running from what happened it's not
saying that I want to stay there forever cuz I don't Robin tries very hard to not be a victim but occasionally
I see glimpses of that scared little girl in Robin I really don't want to go to sleep anymore okay it makes me to
where I'm too scared I really don't want to go to sleep the fear is still there and it's still very
real I really hate being alone because I feel like that's when my mind wanders the most and I think the worst thoughts
of what if I could have done this or what if I could have done that should I have gone and woke up
Zach I think it impacts her every day Robin has to deal with um nightmares still she has to deal with repetitive
memory of what happened to her she told me all the time she remembered her mom screaming there were times when she'd
text me at night and say you know I hear things going on and she was very very scared whenever um noises would happen
and just because she doesn't show it on the outside I think that she obviously has to deal with it on the inside I am
very superstitious I guess the day that everything happened I had on socks and I
had on long sleeves and long pants I will not sleep in long sleeves long pants or socks now I will not sleep with
my door open because I feel like there's a figure of a person standing in my doorway I'm scared of the dark when I
walk into the house and I know that I'm I'm there by myself I will go through every single nook and cranny in the
house to make sure that there's no one in there the dates that are really hard are
birthdays Zach's birthday mom's birthday Brian's birthday even my birthday is hard because I don't like celebrating it
without them I just have those days where I want my mommy or want my stepdad or want my brother and want things to go
back to being normal and you just can't help but burst out into tears Robin is 21 years old she's lived
off and on with her biological father and an aunt and now lives with friends no place has felt like home
since the day Levi King walked into her life Robin briefly tried counseling but she didn't find it
helpful I felt like I didn't need to talk to someone if I wanted to talk to someone I'll talk to my family or put a
law enforcement person in front of me I'll talk to you but a psychiatrist no thanks I don't
need someone to Pat me on the back and tell them you know ask me oh how do you feel I don't need
that I don't expect you to pity me and I don't want you to because that's not how
I am I want to be just like everybody else so how does Robin move past the memories of that horrible day there's a
group of people determined to help her maybe the only people who really understand what she's been
[Music] through the heroic things that Robin did to survive that day and to survive that
incident will always stick in my mind when that investigation was through we weren't through the law enforcement
Community surrounded Robin we wanted to give her a mechanism of people that she could go to if she had questions if she
had issues if she just wanted to talk everybody in the law enforcement field got together and and raised funds
to to start a scholarship program for her I'm thrilled to death every time that phone rings and I see Robin's name
on it it's always with a sense of Joy because uh she has a special place in my heart and she always
[Music] will they treated her like their little sister they just have big hearts they
carry big guns but they have big hearts when you go through things as traumatic as this experience was you
have a bond and I I connected with her we did keep in contact and later on when she turned 16
Robin invited me to her birthday party you know I revisit that place and I've always had this hesitation is
seeing me a happy day or a tragic day I have had a really good relationship with
Chad when I hug him every time I see him it's that same hug I got the day that he
came and he was the first one to me and it's just the most heartwarming it's like a safe
[Music] place I don't let what happened keep me down no no sorry that's not me that'll
never be me I played basketball I played volleyball I played softball ran track I
was a cheerleader I like being a leader okay bye we have had a lot of moments Robin
and I that we have been together for prom she came and got ready at my house I was of course there for
her graduation just think that I know that she's going to need a mom for she says that her mom won't be there for her
wedding and I just want to be there for her I call Denise my adopted mom I Look to Denise for everything whether it be
homework a new boyfriend oh my gosh I don't know what to wear today to school every little thing to every major thing
that's when I look to Denise she has this positive outlook on life she has one of the most Caring Hearts that
anyone could ever see and I believe that Robin needs to be in a field with caring
and helping people I made the statement many times back then and I still make it
today and I hope the good Lord keeps me around long enough to see why he kept Robin Don on this Earth because it's got
to be an incredible special reason and I hope I get to witness that I could honestly not tell you why I
was left why I was the only one that survived I couldn't tell you whether it be I'm able to tell people there's
nothing that you can't get through maybe if I get married one day and have kids if it's to help my kids get through life
or help other people in the world I I I don't know I don't know what my purpose is
but it's going to be great when it when it comes 48 hours to miss it would be a [Music]
crime [Music] I don't like to go back and think of her at the bottom of the stairs who in
Marty's life who would have done this she was found in a pool of blood who has done I had no idea who he could have
done it could it have been somebody at work whoever did it was still out there she's such a good person who would do
that to somebody how could anyone do this to my daughter my daughter [Music] Marty I think that day will stay with me
forever September 8th 2010 was a normal day at the office then there was a 10:00
production meeting and Marty wasn't in it that was extremely usual Marty is very dependable and
reliable Marty is a big bunch of dynamite in a little bitty package she might weigh 97 PBS soak and wet but she
gets stuff done she is a genuine good-hearted outgoing fun person she is a hard worker and she's
always trying to make everything better we work for an apparel company it's a small manufacturing facility it's a
tight-knit group the meeting was over and I asked where's Marty and somebody said we don't
know I sent her a quick text maybe something and come up no reply to the text I called her a few times she never
phoned me back that's why I knew that something was wrong because she would not just miss
work there was a real sense of concern tears what do we do what should we do about 11:30 I decided to drive by her
house when I arrived there her car was sitting in the driveway I walked up rang the doorbell
no answer knocked on the door no answer so I went back to my car on my cell phone and I called the office and said
the house seems eerily empty I think perhaps you should call the police the neighborhood is a very quiet
residential neighborhood we don't get many calls in that area I went up to the front door I
noticed that the door was closed and not locked I opened up the door and said it's the police department Marty are you
home I said that over and over again I do notice what appears to be a woman's purse uh sitting on a table in the
kitchen or dining area seeing the purse there told me that you know I'm married and I have you know my wife doesn't go
anywhere without her purse so at that point I was kind of thinking well maybe she is here somewhere
then I saw no clues upstairs that would indicate any kind of struggle and then I
started walking down the stairs to the basement when I got to about two or three steps from the very bottom I
noticed that there was a person laying on the floor kind of in a fetal position covered head to toe in Blood and there
was a large amount of blood surrounding this person on the floor Marty was breathing it seemed like
it was somewhat labored I knelt down next to her and I asked her over and over again who did
this who did this to you Marty who did this to you I wanted to get I guess what could have been a dying declaration if
if that was what that was going to [Music] be [Music] when I walked in they had just wheeled
her in I could not tell if it was a man or a woman couldn't tell if she was young or old couldn't tell what race she
was it was what appeared to be a lifeless form with dried blood in this swollen head my first thing was to assess to see
if they brought me a live person or not what we found was the major veins skin muscle of the left neck had been
completely cut through and the major artery actually had a couple of scrapes on it so it's literally millimeters away
from having been cut through for the next hour and a half we just meticulously cleaned and put back
together all of those injuries I remained still very concerned about her head in addition to the cut
she had all these bruises and swelling to her face and head injury to me is something that
I take very seriously concussions which is essentially what she had can lead to swelling and they can look fine
initially and then die 24 sometimes 72 hours later some of the nurses were starting
to get very quiet and tears so welling up and then in the back of my mind I'm going wait a minute this happened in my
neighborhood let me get a call into my wife wife let me find out where my kids are it starts slowly hitting you in
waves the enormity of what really had happened my grandma picked me up and went to the hospital and they took me
straight back to the ICU I had no idea how serious it was because I wasn't getting a lot of
information I didn't even know what happened I saw my mom and I just I started balling I
didn't I didn't recognize her her eyes were swollen shut her arms her legs her hands were the only thing that I could
recognize I don't know how to describe it other than you just have knots in your stomach and you're in
disbelief Marty's head was swollen like three times the size of her normal head it was just unbelievable you're kind of
in shock that this is your daughter laying [Music] there my brother I just know my brother
was very angry because it's his M it's our mom but no one can do that to his mom like that just really got him worked
up the fact that both of us the fact that somebody could just hurt our mom like you can't just try and take our mom
away from us as a teenager of course I'd been sassy with my mom and we gotten in
arguments seeing her in that state just made me feel so bad for everything that I had said ever any little teenager
thing I just wish I could take it all back I got really close to her and I said I will never be mean to you ever
again when we got to the hospital some key things that I noticed was that her clothes appeared to be intact her bra
appeared to be intact and there was no signs of a sexual assault every step of the process you're looking for some sort
of motive at that time I was advised her mother had arrived at the hospital and I
went to speak with her to obtain any information we could to assist us with this investigation they were asking me
if I could think of anyone who might have done this to Marty Marty's mother tells us that she has an
ex-husband by the name of Steve Hill uh she advises us that Marty and Steve they
communicate regularly her mother also had told us she was a workaholic she very rarely left the house to her
knowledge she wasn't dating anybody and if she was not working she was typically
at home Marty was still unable to communicate with us we had very limited information as to who she might have
been with who she may have had recent communication with and naturally your first thought is U possibly the
ex-husband might be responsible the detectives asked me about my parents I kept asking like do
your parents get along I remember being really defensive like my dad would never
do this and no one that I know would we go to Marty's ex-husband's house Steve Hill to interview him that
night he was very Cooperative invited us in the house he gave us the full account
of what he had done that day and told us about his history with Marty and that they had had some rough times together
but he loved her and he would never hurt her he wanted to know who did this just
as bad as we did and that's where it became very difficult for us we were stuck with the information of Mr Hill
was not a suspect and very limited after that me and my dad had a lot of conversations trying to
get to the bottom and think of who would have done it someone had broken into my
grandma's house a few days before maybe it was the same person and maybe someone
was after our family they had bandages over her Cuts in her neck so we really couldn't see
them but we could see the blood coming from her eyes it was just kind of Tears with
blood dripping down her eyes at that point we still weren't sure what was going to happen we knew she was
fighting to stay alive I just remember I started crying and saying all I want to do is talk to
my mom like the only thing I wanted to do is be able to talk to my mom [Music] [Music]
[Music] there was quite a fear really among the office could somebody else be a Target you're looking over your shoulder
even at the office and when you're leaving the office and Everywhere You Go wondering who has done this to
Marty and if you know them Prairie Village detectives came to the office obviously they're just trying
to get a sense of Marty's routine just looking for any ideas that perhaps would would give them a direction in which to
turn Marty's mother told us that there was a company by the name of B&J construction who had recently done work
at at her house who she had actually referred to Marty she told me that the supervisor of
that construction company was named Brian and that he seemed to be a nice guy I thought Brian was a hard
worker and a family man and he did good work actually that is why Marty decided to go ahead and use him because he did
some stucking inside my house and he did a really good job when I initially called Brian I
didn't even know his last name he called me back and told me that his last name was Pennington he was 26 years old lived
in Leon Missouri approximately an hour and a half from the Kansas City metro area we decided that we wanted to just
ask him some basic [Music] questions we arrived at Brian's house a little after 9:00 p.m. when we initially pulled
up it was a very dark house that's kind of secluded when we knocked on the door we
were invited in the house my partner and I followed Brian into the kitchen he was very polite
Cooperative how long did you work at house um i' say 3 or four days what did you think when you heard that Mar got
attacked I really didn't know what think she's a really really decent lady have you heard what happened to her at all no
my mother-in-law was looking on the news channel earlier and showed pictures of her house and stuff I really didn't know
what to that during this conversation I noticed that Brian had several scratches on the left side of
his face what are the scratches from on your face that big dog sitting outside what
kind of dog you have cool when did those happen uh yesterday she just jumps all over me and when I bent
down yesterday to unhook chain she jumped up and caught me in the side of the face when I looked at the scratches
they didn't appear to be consistent with what a dog would do I felt like he was hiding something from me I asked him if
he had attacked Marty he told me that he had not he kept stressing to us that he was
having financial difficulties and there was no way he could drive to Kansas City
to commit this crime due to the fact he didn't have enough money for gas I talked to Brian's wife Jessica in
the living room of the house has Brian been here all this week I asked her if Brian had been home on
the morning of the attack he finished that job last month and he's been here with me for two weeks okay at night
night and day night and day yeah he ain't going nowhere in the night I can't sleep at night if he's not here she said
there is no way that he could have done this attack because he had been with her
the entire time I also asked Jessica about the scratches on Brian's face you know I got those they're from a dog I
swear I did not believe Jessica she seemed like she was very naive she was very young I think she was 20 years old
at the time of this she had two young children and I thought she would say anything possible to help protect her
husband and to have him around we have no doubt that we're going to find the person that's responsible for this Brian
doesn't have a heart for that I I hope so believe me I hope you're right um I'm just scared I've never been in this kind
of situation yeah and if you're telling me the truth you don't have a thing in the world to worry about besides my kids
I know he did work on that house um that's what I'm scared about and then I asked Brian if he happened to have any
clothes that had blood on him in his house he immediately told me that he didn't I asked him if I could look
through his clothing his dirty clothing and he told me that I could I saw a hamper in the corner of
the bathroom when I started pulling cloth out I found a pair of jeans near the bottom of the hamper when I pulled the
jeans out I immediately saw they were covered in a red stain most of the stain was towards the
knees and down towards the bottom portion of the pant leg you know what this stuff is on the bottom Grease
Grease something I don't know not blood though right now okay when I saw the red stains it was
definitely a moment of we might have something I tried to remain calm and friendly with Brian and asked him if he
would give me consent to take the jeans from his house Brian signed a written consent
form that I could take jeans shoes DNA swabs and also pictures of the scratches on his face I guess the best word we
were surprised that we were getting this sort of cooperation with the recovery of
these items I think Brian Pennington thought we would not follow up we would not do any other investigation that we
would just believe what he said and believe what his wife was telling us my partner and I drove directly to
the crime lab I think we got there around 11:00 at night actually within 30 minutes of
being at the crime lab we were told that the stains on the jeans tested positive
for human blood we did not know who the blood belonged to it could have been anybody's blood at that point and we
would have to wait a couple more days to determine who the blood belong to we did not tell anybody about this we
were told that Marty would be able to talk to us eventually we did not want to interfere with the investigation and
have them give Marty ideas we wanted anything that Marty would say to come directly from Marty and nothing we gave
her thoughts or suspicions about so we were kind of in a holding pattern waiting to get Marty's side of the story
story and in fact on that Saturday morning the morning after leaving Mr Pennington's house we were contacted
that Marty was talking at the [Music] hospital I don't remember those first days
I don't remember feeling any pain I do remember feeling like I had too much medicine in
me I didn't feel good I believe it was the third day when I started speaking suddenly it all kind of flooded
back what had happened there was no questions I knew who it was and what he had [Music]
done I remember the day that Marty said her first word my daughter Monica and I were
walking in and the doctor said she just spoke as soon as we got in there we asked her if she could remember who did
this and she said Brian I had gotten up early I heard a knock at the door looking out the window I saw that it was
Brian Pennington the man that I had hired to do some work on the house I couldn't
really understand for sure why he would be there it was odd that he was there that early it was odd that he didn't
call first I went to the door let him in and I remember it just being a fairly brief
conversation he mentioned that he remembered something that was in the basement that he thought I should have
done so we started walking to the basement I was leading um I I do remember talking but I
also felt like he was being quiet like he would at least say huh what huh okay I was getting an odd feeling as
we're going down the stairs and then just Two Steps from the bottom of the stairs he grabbed my
throat it was very tight and very strong I kept saying what are you doing it was just silence he never said
a word my voice kept getting lower softer and suddenly my voice I couldn't speak
my voice couldn't come out and I passed [Music] out we received a call from the crime
lab the blood found on the jeans was in fact Marty Hill's blood we knew we had enough for an
arrest warrant at that time on Monday September mber 13th 5 days after the attack we go to Brian's
house in Leon Missouri we find Brian driving down the road he was laid back in the front
passenger seat it appeared his wife was driving he was taken into custody at that
time he showed no signs of being upset he showed no signs of any anger there was absolutely no
emotion when my mom got the call and and they told her that they had arrested Brian Pennington she almost fell
over it was extremely emotional for my mom because she actually referred Brian to Marty she had actually worked with
Brian for two years prior to that knew his wife knew his kids and felt that Brian was a safe person so hearing that
they actually had enough evidence to arrest him made it real that it was really him and that he really did this
and this was a person that she knew I believe that Mr Pennington is a an evil person one of the theories we
have in this investigation is not only did Mr Pennington strangle Marty initially it's our belief that he then
beat her head into the concrete floor which caused multiple facial fractures and if that was not enough he
then slit her throat three to four times leaving her to die in her basement that
morning I believe that Mr Payton was surprised when we arrived at his door and told him that Marty Hill was still
alive I don't believe Mr Pennington thought that he would be caught we always have a little saying
that the trauma surgeons saved these patients lives but we have the opportunity to get them back to living
their [Music] lives the first time I met Marty she had been in the hospital for about a
week her brain was stunned and in shock she could walk but it wasn't pretty her feet were very far apart she couldn't
put her feet together and stand still without falling over she had some issues with her vision she had difficulty with
her hearing um difficulty with her memory difficulty with processing things um she would
change topics at the speed of light the attack was very difficult for both Steven and McKenzie Marty's kids
Steven is very protective over his mother he lives in Houston and he flew up that same evening and he he took it
very hard he actually cleaned the blood off of the floor of Marty's house he wouldn't let anybody in the house he
didn't want anybody to see her blood all over the house I grew up a lot through the whole
thing I spent my 16th birthday in the hospital and I remember her giving me a card and her handwriting on the card was
something that really like really made it real for me her handwriting just didn't look like her handwriting it was
almost like she had to start over like being a kid again and build up to where she is
now Marty's daughter McKenzie played a huge role in Marty's recovery I feel that McKenzie's biggest
role was Marty could feel like a mother I have a responsibility I have things that I need to get done for my
daughter what comes after you start feeling better physically is the Unseen trauma the tion of realizing what
happened to you so after she had left the hospital and gone home to my mom's it became more about the emotional
trauma that had to start healing at that point I was still just processing it how someone that
seems perfectly fine perfectly normal could be that could could be that violent Brian Pennington had been
arrested for attempted first-degree murder my goal was to put Mr Pennington in prison for as long as our legal
system would allow the most important thing that we had was the DNA evidence on Mr
Pennington's genes we also had facial scratches on his cheeks that he advised were from a pit
they were strong evidence for us but defense attorneys can always find ways to try to cause reasonable
doubts the frustrating part about this investigation is that we absolutely have no motive that we are aware of there was
no theft that occurred for Marty's house she had money laying out her purse was laying out he did not take it there was
no sexual assault there was no history that they had spoken since the work had been conducted at her house in late a
August while preparing to go to court we did more background investigation on Brian I checked our computer database
and noticed that Mr Pennington had a prior police record I believe he had over 60 contacts
with law enforcement officers that he was involved in several domestic violence incidents where injuries
occurred to wives to girlfriends battering women was nothing new to him Jessica Pennington was a key witness to
this case she provided her husband an alibi at the time of the initial interview by the detectives she told the
detectives that her husband was home during the entire time frame of the attack that was going to be hard to get
around in front of a [Music] jury the night before the preliminary hearing Marty was very nervous about seeing
Brian Pennington she was also very nervous about what she was going to say what the
attorneys what questions they were going to ask the pressure was tremendous because
in our opinion Brian was and is a very dangerous individual and if we failed at the preliminary
hearing he would be released he would be [Music] free I was very concerned about Marty's
physical health when I first met her she was struggling just to walk and sit down
in a chair and one of my concerns was even as aggressive of a prosecution that we were going to have I didn't want to
cause her more emotional harm or physical harm the other concern was her memory we knew that if she could
identify Mr Pennington as her attacker in the courtroom that we could get a conviction the problem was with all of
the injuries to her we didn't know if she would be able to do that we were in the courtroom and they
brought Brian in and they seated him to the far right of our family it it was very
emotional and unbelievable it just made you want to cry so it was very hard to see
him Brian Pennington had no one on his side of courtroom not even his mother okay
he always stared straight at the wall and he never looked around until Marty walked in the
door the only time he moved his head from straight forward was when she walked in the room and I saw his eyes go
like this almost like he saw a ghost I will always remember that I could see it and feel it that he
couldn't believe she was walking down that aisle going to go up and speak when Marty first walked into the
courtroom she was very slow she was a little bit hunched over and I was concerned if she was going to be able to
make it through this I've always told her just to focus on me you and I are going to have a
conversation block everybody else out it's it's going to be you and me we can do this I remember while I was speaking
I that I could out of the corner of my eyes kind of see him glancing at me something about the basement
it was still hard to process because I'm seeing this person that had come to work
for me and I thought he was fine he showed no emotion I felt he was very detached from
the situation and it didn't bother him that he had almost killed a woman the defendants that detach and
show no emotion are the ones that frighten us the most it's still too hard to understand
someone that you felt like you knew was capable of something like that I held my breath until she
identified Brian as the person that attacked her because I was very concerned with the traumatic brain
injury with everything she'd been through if she was going to be able to do that and she did it I felt that it
was important that I got up there and could do what they needed me to do I smiled at her I wanted her to know she
did a great job one of the other keys to the case was Jessica Pennington I thought that she would be a
very hostile witness and would testify in his behalf say he was home that entire time frame we were able to get
her alone with the detectives and tell her how important it was to tell the truth I think the key factor with
Jessica was learning how severely beaten Marty was and how close Marty came to dying and I think Jessica the human side
of her understood that and realized it was more important to tell the truth than to protect
Brian and Jessica Pennington broke down and at that time admitted to us that she had lied and that in fact her
husband Mr Pennington was not at home with her during the time of the attack I learned from Jessica that Brian had
attacked her on numerous occasions assaulted and threatened her in the end Jessica became one of our best Witnesses
against Brian at the end of the preliminary hearing the judge ruled there was enough
evidence to take the case to trial it didn't appear that Brian had a lot of fight left when it came to the
case and and it was made clear to us through his defense Council that he wanted to work out a deal the issue with
the deal was how long would he serve in the Kansas state prison system we could go through the jury
trial and get 38 years or we could work out a plea and get less than that a key factor in the evaluation was Marty we
knew that she still had physical issues mental issues and I believe that Marty wanted to work out a
deal there was a day when she called me and said it's hard enough for 12 people to decide where to go to lunch let alone
decide what how to convict someone it took several months but we finally agreed on 28 and A2
years because that was going to end it for Marty she wouldn't have to testify and also I thought it was important for
her children to have closure on this [Music] too the sentencing we expected it to be
brief and short to the point and for him to be convicted and sentenced I walked into the sentencing
hearing I looked at Brian Pennington I looked at the defense Council and I knew something was
wrong at the sentencing hearing Brian and his defense Council were not speaking with one another Brian looked
angry so I knew that there was an issue we were told that Brian wanted to withdraw his plea he wanted to go to
trial it was my perception that Brian had six weeks since the plea date to think about serving 28 years in prison
keep in mind he had not been alive for 28 years so I don't think he could get his head around the fact that he would
serve more time in prison than he had been on this Earth my initial thought was I had told Marty it was going to be
over today and that may not happen the courtroom was filled with tension many of Marty's family members
were very upset everyone who had traveled from miles and miles and spent a lot of money on plane tickets was like
oh my gosh you know he's going to change his plea right here it was decided that we would go in
court and that Brian would tell the judge the reasons why he wanted to withdraw his
plea Brian simply told him it was the pressure and that it was too much time the judge tells him that those are not
sufficient reasons to withdraw his plea we then moved on to the victims statements and their family
members I was almost excited to be able to talk to him I will never understand why you did this to my mom you put my
entire family through something that no family should ever have to go through and you put me through something that a
15-year-old especially should never have to go through I looked at him straight in the face the entire time I was
talking I got to tell him how strong our family was and even though he pretended
like he wasn't listening he wouldn't look at me I knew that he heard what I was saying I finally felt powerful towards
him the most powerful part to me was when Marty stood up and faced the man that tried to kill her she said to Brian I
was nothing but nice to you and asking him why did you do this to me and he just sat there no
response the judge asked Brian if he had anything to say before he gave him his sentence the attorneys came back and
said he that he had nothing to say that he has has the right to say nothing is very hard it feels like he should at
least owe us an explanation hopefully one day he'll communicate why he did it I think it would help us all understand
that it wasn't just a random event that there was some motive behind it some reason why it
happened the judge followed the plea agreement and sentenced Brian to 28 and A2 years in the Kansas prison system
[Music] I felt like we had a big team working together that made things right great detectives great
attorney great family support great friends I'm so proud of my mom I need to become more like her and the person that
she is I need to have her work ethic and her personality and just to be a likable
person so that if anything like that happened to me that I would be able to make it through it like she
[Music] did I'm so thankful for the people at my mom's work that stepped up it wasn't just like someone is
missing from work it was that one of their friends hadn't shown up and they were wondering why I think that the
co-workers were definitely like my mom's angels I don't think any of us consider
ourselves heroes in this it's Marty's the hero she could have decided this thing can beat me and it it's made her
an amazing person I think the kickboxing it initially started as just something to push myself a little
further working out I knew that that was going to be a key role in getting back to my regular
life I do have scars I have all across my neck still I tend to probably pull my hair forward covered up I still have
tingling down the left side my face feels like a mannequin from here on and my ears very tight so it's always a
reminder for sure I think she's still dealing with the emotional part of it that it's never
going to be something that we can just put in the past even though it's over with and he's in jail and everything
that it's still there I think about the attack and the event a lot how is someone 26 and how do they
get to a level that they could could be that vicious and and be capable of doing those
things if I could ask Pennington anything it would be why or what what were you doing I
and yes just why [Music] [Applause] in January of 1978 I was 20 years old I lived in the
kega sority house on the FSU campus in [Music] Tallahassee I was happy I was with my
other friends and Florida state was just a safe place to be when I moved into the sorority house
my roommate was Karen Chandler when I was at FSU it was very laid-back it was just a great
time classes had been going on for about a week and everyone was moved in to the
house Saturday January 14th I walked home home and I got in this sity and there were kids talking about you know
where they're going tonight what are they doing who they're dating what party and then I saw my book sitting on the
trunk and I said you know I have a test on Monday I'm going to go ahead and stay
home and study tonight my roommate Karen came in at the same time and she had a sewing project
she had to do so she sat in her bed next to mine and we talked for a little while
and then Kathy was tired so I just went ahead and decided to go to bed it was maybe around midnight maybe a little bit
before midnight that night I heard our bedroom door slam open I was opening my eyes a
little bit because it kind of brought me into Consciousness and I'm awake enough
to know someone's there there as I'm opening my eyes more and focusing he raised his arm and he had something in
his hand I thought it was a pipe or a stick I didn't know what it was he came down and hit me in the
face it just felt like pins and needles and knives in my face my roommate Karen was now
stirring and he went over and hit her I'm still awake and I'm moving so he came back to my side of the bed and as I
see him raise his arm up this bright light Shone into our room and this light was a car from one
of the sorority sisters coming home from a late date he got spooked and he left the
room the next thing I remember is the feeling like I was being being lifted downstairs and I remember
asking if Kathy was okay and them saying she's going to be okay you need to worry
about yourself our detectives tried to track a man who slipped into a s most coeds here terrified they put me on the
stretcher and there was all this noise there were the um lights from the police cars and the ambulance police say he
simply walked in through an unlocked door people talking and the radio squawking
they say he was armed with a heavy Oak L and I thought I was at a carnival because my mind went to
somewhere I could understand my name is Kathy Kleiner and I was attacked by Ted [Music]
Bundy [Music] [Music] the early morning hours of January the 15th 1978 I got a call and the call
basically said Sheriff uh there's multiple murders and assaults uh on girls uh they told me it was at the kega
house I was stunned [Music] before I could get myself settled into criminal investigator Ken casares as my
role as Sheriff I I I had to get over my personal thoughts about these could be my own
daughters I was there before Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler were brought out on gurns I said prayers for both of
them as they passed me I didn't know if they were alive I were deceased at the time they told me two were definitely
deceased inside I knew I woke up in intensive care I didn't have any idea for sure why
I was there but I knew something bad had happened I had at least one skull fracture I think every bone in my face
was broken and my jaw was broken um I had a broken arm and I had a couple of fingers on on my hand that were um
crushed maybe I had been in my room for a day or two and my parents were afraid of what
was going to be on the TV so my dad said before we turn on the TV I need to tell
you something and he told me about Lisa and Margaret Margaret Bowman 21 and Lisa
Levy 20 had been killed just down the fall from Karen and Cathy's room in the sorority house they had both been
strangled beaten and sexually assaulted I can't imagine how horrible that was for hurt their parents
and it was very hard because I really couldn't express my grief and my sorrow to their
families my jaw was broken in three places here here and here um it was hanging on this joint the jaw um what they did
was put my jaw back together and wire it shut in the hospital Cathy could remember nothing about the attack she
says those memories have slowly come back to her over the years I remember the detectives were in
my room first off before my family even showed up asking me questions but I was not able at all to help the detectives
it was just a big blur a big blur to me but it turned out the Kaio Mega house had not been the only crime scene that
night we were outside uh that evening when all of a sudden I get a radio communication from the sheriff's office
that there is something going on at a duplex a young lady who lived there alone uh and the next door neighbor
hearing some beating some sounds this is going on less than six blocks away I sent an investigator
there and found Cheryl Thomas on the floor in Blood and had been beaten badly Cheryl Thomas was a dance major at FSU
like the kai Omega victims she suffered severe head injuries and was taken to the hospital in a
coma I thought could this be the same individual and I said how we've got such a police presence how could that person
go just a few blocks and strike again it was inconceivable I got a call from Colorado
about an escaped uh criminal named Ted Bundy I was familiar with the name they said do you know Ted Bundy I said I've
heard of him Theodore Bundy a suspect in the raped murder cases of at least 36 young women rapes and murders most in
the west over a 7-year period they said we don't know where he is Bundy was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list and I
wrote his name down on a legal pad in my car Ted Bundy it was the first name associated with the murders in
Tallahassee Ted Bundy was known to lure women away with his charm and then abduct them or pick them up at a bus
stop and say can I give you a ride I did not think that the method of operation of this case was anything near similar
except for an attack on girls so I did not take that at that time as serious when I woke up in the
Tallahassee hospital I I couldn't really tell you who I was or what where I was I know I had head pain and um my
face was very swollen my mom and dad had to tell me what had happened because I I
really did not know I couldn't remember what happen and they had to slowly break
the news to me Cheryl you were attacked Cheryl's jaw was broken in two places her shoulder dislocated and she had five
skull fractures leaving her permanently deaf in her left ear I felt very grateful because obviously if I had not
had the two neighbors next door to call that night when they heard me crying and
a a beating kind of sound I know I wouldn't I would not have survived as the news sunk in across the
FSU Community Sherl remained in the hospital Karen recovered at her parents home nearby and Kathy went home to South
Florida I was flown down to Miami with my family my parents took me to an oral surgeon and had to rebre my
jaw because it was not going to be lined up correctly so now I had to be wired shut
for additional 9 weeks it was so depressing when you have your mouth wired shut you have to always wear nail
clippers on a necklace around your neck because if you ever start choking or anything you have to be able
to cut the wires and be able to breathe as Cathy and her fellow survivors healed
Sheriff kasaris looked for ways to put the person who did this to them away searching for
clues in untraditional places I did a personal examination of Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy when I examined both of
the bodies I found what I think was the most significant piece of evidence and that was a bite mark and that bite would
potentially be able to be compared to whoever we found to me it was almost like he was leaving whoever it was a
[Music] [Music] [Music] signature I think before tassey and FSU was a cocoon but that was sort of the shutting
of a door in a way that was the end of we are safe that type of evil that encompassed
me that night I couldn't wrap my head around it it just seemed surreal it didn't seem like it was possible
the Innocence at Florida State was gone the university had asked the fraternities for volunteers and if a
lady needed to go to the library or to campus or anywhere one of us would go and escort her to wherever she was
going men started sleeping in the lobbies of the dormitories they were police patrolling all the time for that
month no one knew if they were sitting next to the person that had committed the crime I mean if they couldn't tell
you who did it how could they tell you who didn't do it as January 1978 stretched on police
were stumped although they had bitemark evidence they had no one to match it to within a few weeks after the sorority
sisters were murdered we had information that a 12-year-old Kimberly leech disappeared from her
school so we thought could it be possible but this was a 12-year-old girl we're dealing with college students in a
sorority Kimberly leech disappeared from Lake City over an hour away her body later found by a nearby park fear of the
unknown attacker pervaded the area until news broke of an arrest in Pensacola there was something on TV when the news
came on police arrested this 31-year-old man after a high-speed chase Wednesday morning in Pensacola Florida he claimed
to be a Florida State University law student Pensacola Police had pulled over a Volkswagen Beetle that was driving
slowly and the mysterious driver refused to give his name came to find out of course that the vehicle was stolen from
a location nearby to the sorority house in that Volkswagen they found dozens of IDs and credit cards that had been
stolen from around Tallahassee in the weeks before then the identification came back it was Ted
Bundy the moment I heard Ted Bundy I had the flashbacks of course of the phone call and that's exactly what we had we
had Ted Bundy who came to our town if those who him with dozens of sex slings are right Theodore Robert Bundy
is one of the most Savage killers in history Mr Bundy had been a very prolific serial killer for many many
years it is very unusual for Mr Bundy to leave a Survivor Ted Bundy's murder spree out
west ended when he went to prison in 1976 but at the end of 1977 he had escaped and made his way to
Florida immediately after his arrest he became a suspect in both the FSU and Kimberly leech attacks we know that he
got here somewhere in the vicinity of January the 8th he rented a boarding room in a boarding house adjacent to the
Florida State University campus Bundy was at home on a college campus around the time of his crimes out west Bundy
had attended college and even law school when Mr Bunny was in school he took jobs
working for political campaigns and apparently did an extraordinarily good job there was absolutely no indication
that he was the serial killer that he ultimately turned out to be his charm his wit no fo his
intelligence his Charisma everything about him made him different than all the other Cal
Killers the first photo I saw of Ted Bundy after they arrested him he didn't look like a serial
killer he looked normal the survivors learned more about who Ted Bundy was and the brutality of
the crimes he was suspected of committing his history was a shock I think when I learned about those
women it's just an immense sadness there are all these families that are devastated in the months after the
attacks while the Florida authorities were building their case the survivors slowly began to move forward with their
lives for Karen Chandler that surprisingly meant moving back into the Kaio mea house when I came back they
gave me space they didn't it wasn't like they treated me as a special china doll
that they couldn't talk to I felt like everyone treated me pretty much like they had treated me
before so life just sort of continued on like I had never left Cheryl the former dance student was
now suffering from balance issues and didn't know what her future would look like I knew I couldn't hear again but I
asked the neurologist would I ever be able to dance again he said that's totally up to you so then I knew that I
had had an option of train my body all over again or I won't dance again I made my decision I was going to
go back and get my degree Cheryl moved to Texas and studied ballet at another University but for Kathy life took a
different turn life totally changed for me I did not go back to college I was married 6 months after the attack my
parents thought thought I needed someone to take care of me and to be sure that nobody came in the middle of the night
and attacked me again and um I was okay with that but as much as they wanted to they couldn't put
Bundy behind them to bring him to Justice they needed to come face to face with their
attacker we wanted more than anything to make sure if this was the guy that did it we want him locked up that he never
has the opportunity to hurt another [Music] woman FBI agents and Florida police are
questioning a man by the name of Theodore Robert bundai with every passing day the media grew increasingly
fascinated with alleged serial killer Ted Bundy he will remain in Pensacola under tight security until authorities
can determine if he will be charged with the Florida State University murders I feel like they were so focused on Ted
Bundy which I'm sure Ted Bundy enjoyed the media that they forgot about the women as Florida authorities
investigated bu they first questioned why his method of attack would have changed he typically was organized he
would plot pick up and then abduct the young lady and here it was obvious that he had gotten
disorganized they developed a theory that Bundy had originally stocked and targeted Cheryl Thomas there had been a
guy that I'd seen ride his bicycle by my house Ted Bundy looks similar so I sometimes wonder if maybe
that was him he had no doubt case that place out and we believed that Mr Bundy went to
Cheryl Thomas's residence and when he got there apparently there was a car that had broken down right in front and
there was a man there working on the car he found that kind of got spooked he then went to the Kyle Mega house
and when his attack at the sorority was interrupted Bundy returned to Cheryl's you know I compared Ted Bundy to a
killing machine like a shark because the shark is just feeding in a frenzy off of whatever is available
just like the shark has the need to eat he had the need to murder their case intensified with an
eyewitness who put Bundy at the sority house one of the um kega sisters Nita ner came home that night after being out
on a date she came in through the back door of the sorority house and she saw a man coming from the upstairs area down
the stairway that would have been unusual for Nita to see a man because no men were allowed upstairs in the Shorty
house she did not see him full face on but she saw a profile of him he opened the front door and immediately exited
the uh sorority house Neri identified Bundy from a lineup and as the case came together investigators still had that
key piece of evidence to analyze we crafted a search warrant to use to search Mr Bundy's mouth and obtain uh
models of his teeth to compare against the bite mark impression that was left the search warrant for his mouth
probably was the first in the nation's history so I went to his cell one evening I told him he's coming with me
and he went with me to my dentist's office the doors opened up he saw that we were in a dental office he
immediately started screaming where's my attorney I want my attorney you can't do
this he knew exactly what we were going to be doing once we read him the search warrant for his mouth he realized that
we could use Force he sat down in the dental chair he opened his mouth said do what you have to do Ken you know I'm not
a violent person the state asked four Dental experts to compare Bundy's molds to the
marks all four of them concluded that Mr Bundy was the one that left the bite mark we were confident going to the
grand jury with the evidence that we had there was an indictment last night in the aftermath of a brutal crime in
Tallahassee Florida and what was unusual about the indictment was how it was delivered I have copies of the
indictment to give each of you we had Print [Music] Media Radio media television media step
out Mr Bundy and they they were able to view the indictment reading that night what do we have here Ken let's see oh an
indictment all right why don't you read it to me let's read it let's go Theodore
Robert Bundy you are charged indictment two counts burglary in the uh two counts
murder in the first degree three counts attempted murder in the first degree he was obviously not very happy I did not
let it deter me said Theodore Robert Bundy did make an assault upon Karen Chandler and or Kathy cliner not
surprisingly the former law student took an active role role in his defense Mr Bundy took depositions from
the Witnesses in the case himself it's very unusual but Mr Bundy did have legal training I think he was acting as the
lawyer that he always wanted to be since I didn't remember anything about the attack I think that was helpful but my
feeling at that time was I don't want to show him any fear because I don't want him to think anything about him bothers
me is under my skin scares me he was sitting there um looking at me and I looked at him and I didn't take my eyes
off of him and he had this smirk on his face it kind of made my stomach sick but
also I knew I was walking out and he wasn't and that gave me some Power I felt like I had done my job I had
answered his questions and I hope I gave him absolutely no satisfaction months passed as the case wound its way
toward trial down in Miami Kathy Kleiner struggled to put herself back out in the
world after I got attacked I was afraid of men it was something that I didn't want to have control me and I went to
work at a lumber yard because I figured that's where I'm going to see the most men and worked that experience helped me
a lot Kathy would soon need that Newfound confidence the survivors were set to testify against Bundy but this
time his life was in their hands to know I was going to have to testify um I think I just needed to
build up my resolve and know that this was going to happen and be prepared as much as I could for it we locked eyes
once again and I stared at him why do you think people are so fascinated with Ted Bundy for more on
the case go to Facebook at 48 [Music] hours I think I always knew that I was going to have to test toy
court if it went to trial what camer going on the fourth Flo get away from here you know you're not
supposed to be here excuse me there was a total media circus we'll be standing by prosecuting
attorney Larry and it was the first major case that actually was broadcast live evaluating it as it was actually
going down in the courtroom only one camera fixed on a tripod tapes the courtroom proceedings his 20 television
Crews from around the country have been covering the trial get a front row seeg you can get
it all there I think Mr Bundy was playing to the cameras Robert my name's Ted bu he got a real kick out of
it at trial Bundy again took an active role on his defense team Z it's on this motion by participating in
his own defense Bundy and his attorneys hope to convince the jury that he was intelligent articulate and innocent a
victim of circumstances Bundy had a lot of interaction with the judge he argued his own motions as good as a lawyer
could I [Music] think young women pack the courtroom every day to see the star defendant
every time he turns around I kind of get that feeling no no you know he's going to get me
next as lead prosecutor Larry Simpson felt pressure at or near the calls of to make sure Bundy was put away forever
the cases out west were not particularly strong cases by majority we know we needed to finish the job in
Florida the survivors felt that pressure too as Cheryl Karen and Kathy each took
the stand I felt it was important for the jury to see a real person who had been
subjected to what head Bundy did I had um five skull fractures and multiple contusions in my
head it was just my mission to tell my story and I just really didn't want to look at him didn't want to talk to him
didn't want anything to do with him the defense asked is this the man you saw attack you that night in your
room at Kai Omega and I had to say I don't know because I never saw his face I wanted to help put the nail in
that coffin to put him away to help the other girls who couldn't do it I couldn't help and she was weaving in
though the survivors couldn't identify Bundy from that night someone else could sorority sister
need a near do you recall the man that you saw at the door of kle Mega house on the
morning on January 15 1978 yes I do would you point him out for us please man in the dark suit with a red
TI perhaps the prosecution's most damning evidence was that bite mark left on one of the victims this is a
photograph of the bite mark and as you can see there's a ruler in place and this is what the forensic dentist did in
court they made the marks you can actually place this model right on the photograph and you've
got it coming in like this laying down and then he turned his head slightly and did it
again it fits like a glove but bite mark analysis was a new and relatively uncertain science and the ever smiling
Bundy seemed confident as the trial came to a close of course I was worried when it went to
the jury but I knew in my heart and by the evidence that was there that he's the
one that actually murdered my friends the jury was out a little less than 7 hours and returned to verdict AG
the jury I'm the defendant guilty is charged the verdict that was guilty as charged chared on all
counts he was convicted and now whatever sentence he got couldn't be bad enough as far as I was concerned it is ironic
that he ended up in Florida because we were a very active death penalty state is hereby imposed the death penalty he
was sentenced to death on my birthday I don't believe the death penalty should be a willy-nilly kind of
thing but if he had gotten out there were women that were going to die I have no doubt in my
mind following the FSU trial Bundy was also found guilty of murdering 12-year-old Kimberly leech and received
another death sentence after the trial was over I felt that it was just going to be all over and no more in the news
or or anything but that didn't happen it was probably just crazy for me to think that
as Bundy sat on death row his notoriety only grew books and TV programs came out
focusing on his good looks and charm instead of rejecting it Kathy decided to embrace it I read as much as
I could about Ted Bundy watched all his movies because I think by learning about
him it has helped me move forward because I wanted to just dis associate myself so that he wasn't part of me
anymore in 1981 3 years after the attacks Kathy had a son Michael I didn't want him to know
that I had been scared that I had been attacked I just wanted to be a normal mom with a normal
kid one night I was putting him to bed and he looked up at me and he touched my face and he he said Mommy what happened
to your face right there and I told him that a bad man came into my house one night and had hurt me you just don't
grasp that at a young age you don't really get it but you kind of do and you just feel like you know I'm not going to
let anybody hurt [Music] you I felt that it was important to keep her safe she was such a loving person
How could somebody do that to sorry and I think in his mind he he always carried that that it could happen
again and would I be there you know to help my [Music] mom how do you deal with traumatic
events for more of Kathy Kleiner Story of Survival go to 48 hours.com [Music] for most of the 1980s Ted Bundy sat on
Florida's death row appealing his convictions in that time Kathy Kleiner went through a divorce and focused on
her young son Michael I was a single mom for 5 years and he and I grew up together we're very very close growing
up my mom was the most loving caring affectionate happy person she never let what happened to her get to
her Kathy had grown accustomed to projecting a tough exterior but that softened in 1987 when
an old high school friend came back into her life over the years I thought about
Kathy now and then Kathy's very special and you could tell she was very special back then so I
called him and um he came over one day for lunch on a weekend and basically never left I
mean I felt energy from Kathy right away when we first saw each other it was just
her smile and she really looked in your eyes and but happy eyes all that together just was like
boom when Kathy told me a little bit about the attack by Ted Bundy it just kind of blew me away she would cry about
it I wanted to take away all her pain and you couldn't take away this pain in her family Kathy found happiness
and she leaned on them for support as Bundy appeals finally ran out at the end he was bargaining for his
life he started confessing to murders he confessed to 30 murders and now he was trying to give information but it was
vague I'll tell you where more women are buried please don't kill me and I can imagine those being the last words that
he heard from his victims please don't kill me serial killer Ted bun scheduled to
die in Florida's electric chair at 7:00 there was the atmosphere of a public hanging as hundreds of singing chanting
death penalty [Music] supporters when it happened we got a call we had TV on and at that point we
saw the white flag that they hold and wave when someone has been electrocuted [Applause]
[Music] Scott and I were sitting on our little sofa in my condo and I cried and I
cried and I cried for all the victims that could not see [Music] [Applause] [Music]
this long after surviving Ted Bundy Cathy is speaking publicly about her experiences
hoping it might help others I think by telling my story it has helped to heal me but I feel that it
also helps people to hear that I have been through something so horrific and I've come out the other side I want
people to know no matter what they've gone through that um they too can do it there's no one way to heal from
trauma Karen and Cheryl feel like they've talked about Ted Bundy enough I was a victim until I walked out of that
hospital I was a Survivor until he was executed we got to come up with something that's after that it's not
part of me anymore I want to be more than Cheryl Thomas that was attacked by Bundy I want to just be Cheryl Thomas I
got got married and I had two wonderful children I got my Master's at galludet University and worked with the hearing
impaired in dance I've had a 40-year marriage I have two wonderful self- sustaining children I have three
wonderful grandchildren I really don't think about Bundy anymore Cathy's Journey takes her back
to Tallahassee for the first time in over 40 years she's come in part to thank former
Sheriff Ken kasaris Kathy he's someone I've thought about over the years and someone who has a
good memory you're here yeah I'm seeing you again I can't believe it but thank you so much don't I'm looking forward to
doing this this is something I needed to do together Kathy and Ken return to the
Kyo Mega house totally different it's weird the swery house looks so different it doesn't bother me like I thought it
would and your room was on the back side that's right it's okay to be here I'm okay and I'm with Ken so he's given me
strength well thank you through everything life goes on you have to keep it going this case is about probably over a
hundred victims that lost their lives because of Mr Bundy as time moves forward the hope is
that it will be the women not Bundy who are remembered he's not to be glorified he's to be
damned they were important people they were people just like me living breathing people that had Futures
and they're gone and we only remember this inhuman thing for Cathy and Karen the sorority
sisters they lost are always with them I think about them occasionally when I'm with my grandchildren or when I had
children I wonder what their lives would have been like what they would have done I feel that because I survived Ted
Bundy and there were so many victims that didn't I don't want to take that that opportunity I was given and not do
good with it I want to be sure that I keep going for them Ted Bundy confessed to at least 30
murders but it is believed he may have killed over a hundred women in at least six
[Music] states did a couple's massive home renovation Project Lead to murder did
you guys is going to do an argument is it possible that without this house Shanti might still be alive I think
that's completely true 48 Hours next on [Music] CBS

"48 Hours" looks back at cases of survivors who lived to tell their story in this YouTube marathon. Binge-watch the full episodes, which include "Sole Survivor," "The Stranger You Know" and "Surviving Ted Bundy."

0:00 Sole Survivor 41:35 The Stranger You Know 1:23:54 Surviving Ted Bundy

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "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.

Brief Summary

Survivors Robin Conrad and Marty Hill recount their traumatic experiences with violence and the long-lasting effects on their lives.

Key points

A Night of Horror. A young girl recounts the traumatic events of a shooting in her home.
The Search for Justice. Law enforcement investigates a brutal double murder and its connection to a suspect.
Facing the Killer. A survivor testifies against her family's murderer, reclaiming her voice.
A Community's Support. Law enforcement rallies to support Robin with a scholarship program.
Discovery of Blood Evidence. The investigation takes a turn when blood is found on Brian's jeans, leading to a potential arrest.
Marty Identifies Her Attacker. In a pivotal moment, Marty recalls her attacker as Brian Pennington, confirming suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I want to feed my animals.

A child seeking comfort amidst chaos.

7:32WatchDec 29, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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