The bizarre strip search hoax at a Kentucky McDonald's | Forensic Files

proper hydration is crucial for your immune system and can actually boost it as well but
believe it or not three out of four people experience dehydration daily with liquid iv you now have the fastest
and most efficient way to stay hydrated each serving helps you get as much hydration as drinking
two to three bottles of water i love exercising but find that after an intense workout i
can feel a bit drained for the rest of the day that's where i noticed a difference with
liquid iv not only do their drinks taste great but they give me a much needed energy boost
plus i don't get that same post-workout slump that i feel when i don't properly hydrate
every flavor i've tried has been great but my personal favorite is acai berry liquid iv is available
nationwide across the us at costco and target or you can get 25 percent off when you go to liquidive.com
and to use code case file at checkout that's 25 off anything you order when you use promo code case file
at liquidive.com get better hydration today at liquidive.com promo code case file
[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
notes for this episode on your app or on our website due to the nature of this crime
caseville has elected to change the names of several individuals featured in this episode
in april of 2004 teenager laura fletcher had recently celebrated her 18th birthday
she was in the final months of her senior year of high school and was set to graduate as one of the
top 10 students in her class an avid painter and photographer laura took advanced art lessons to further her
creative skills but her main ambition was to study pre-med at the university of louisville
in her home state of kentucky so she could later attend to medical school laura's reputation for being responsible
and well-behaved extended outside of school hours she attended church regularly and had
previously been a girl scout when her mother's health issues led to her losing her job
laura offered to help support her family [Music] in january 2004 she got a part-time job
at a local mcdonald's fast food restaurant near her home in mount washington earning 6.35 cents an hour
laura was a reliable employee who was always willing to help out by taking on extra shifts
at around 4 45 pm on friday april 9 laura was preparing to head home after finishing an afternoon shift
before she left her manager asked if she could stay a little longer to cover for
another employee who had just called in sick friday evenings were always busy and the
restaurant couldn't afford to be understaffed laura would only have to stay until
someone else could be found to work the entire shift [Music] happy to help and eager for the chance
to earn a little extra money laura agreed to continue working [Music] mcdonald's employees who worked a double
shift were given a free meal to tide them over so laura took a short break to wait
before returning behind the counter also working that night was 51 year old donna summers one of the restaurant's
assistant managers like laura summers was relatively new to the franchise she had only been working there for
about eight months just as laura returned to serving customers the restaurant's phone rang at 4 56 pm
summers answered it on the other end was a man who identified himself as a police
officer named officer scott officer scott explained that he had mcdonald's corporate on another line
as well as lisa siddens the store's manager he was calling because a child who had
been in the restaurant earlier had her coin purse stolen the culprit was believed to be one of
summer's employees he provided a physical description of the suspect young white and female with a petite
build and dark hair she was wearing a mcdonald's uniform officer scott also described the tyre
that the suspect was wearing summer's immediately thought of laura fletcher even though her work record was
exemplary she fit the suspect's description perfectly while leaving officer scott
waiting on the phone summers found laura and asked her to accompany her to the manager's office
at the back of the restaurant the small cramped room had a tiled floor with a desk and a countertop running
against opposing walls their surfaces were crowded with a computer and various items of stationery
a filing cabinet sat to one side and boxes were stacked beneath the benchtop perched up high in the ceiling was a
cctv camera summers led laura into the manager's office before locking the door behind them
she then informed laura that a police officer had accused her of robbing a customer
shocked laura immediately protested her innocence telling her manager donna i've never
done anything wrong i could never steal summers responded that a police officer had described laura as the person
responsible officer scott was still waiting on the phone summers switched between speaking to him
and laura officer scott informed summers that laura had two choices she could either submit to a search for
the stolen purse then and there or she could wait until an officer came to arrest her
and undergo a search at the police station upon learning of her options laura started to cry
and begged to be taken to the police station so the matter could be cleared up there
summers handed the phone to laura who spoke to officer scott herself after doing so laura agreed to be
searched on the spot officer scott issued instructions to summers who in turn relayed them to laura
first laura was asked to empty her pockets she did so without complaint after handing over her keys and her cell
phone laura revealed there was no stolen purse in her pockets officer scott suspected that the item
could be hidden underneath laura's clothing and ordered her to undress by this time another assistant manager
named kim dockery arrived to start work kim was set to replace summers for the evening shift
upon discovering what was happening in the manager's office kim asked what was going on
summers refused to say had officer scott's command as summers and kim looked on laura
reluctantly removed her mcdonald's uniform one piece at a time until she stood in
nothing but her underwear she covered her face and cried while summers inspected each garment
closely and shook each of them out there was no sign of the stolen purse in laura's clothing
she was then instructed to remove her underwear and surrender that as well laura was now
completely naked as summers queried at the validity of the accusation against laura officer scott made a
startling statement he told summers that laura was also being investigated for using
and to dealing drugs police officers were currently searching her family home in nearby taylorsville
consequently laura's clothes and other belongings were considered evidence in the drug investigation
officer scott told summers to place them all inside a bag and to leave them in her car so that he
could collect them shortly summers did as she was told kim dockery hugged laura and tried to
comfort her stating if this was happening to my daughter i'd be pissed she handed laura an apron
so that she could cover herself as the restaurant was experiencing its peak hour
kim returned to the restaurant floor summers told officer scott that she also needed to get back to work
requested that she find a male employee to watch over laura until police arrived summers
summoned jason bradley a 27-year-old cook she left him in the office with laura and the telephone while she went back to
her managerial duties in the restaurant laura held the apron against the front of her body
as jason faced away from her and spoke to officer scott upon learning that laura was wearing
nothing but an apron officer scott told jason to remove it and describe her body to him
this made jason angry after speaking with the officer for several minutes he stormed out of the
office and told summers the entire matter was a lot of bs he flatly told her that he wanted no
part of it before resuming his work in the kitchen summers didn't understand what jason was
upset about so she resumed control of the phone by now it had been 40 minutes since she
had answered officer scott's call summers explained that there was nobody else available to keep
watch over laura in response officer scott asked are you married summers giggled and informed to the
officer that she was actually engaged when asked if she trusted her fiance summers said she did officer scott
queried whether summer's fiancee would be able to come to the restaurant to keep an eye on laura
summers agreed to call him and ask walter nix jr was a 42 year old father of two
who worked as an exterminator a church-going man who coached youth baseball teams
he was considered an upstanding member of the community he and donna summers had only recently
gotten engaged shortly before 6pm summers used her cell phone to call nyx she explained that an employee was being
investigated for theft and dealing drugs when asked if he could help by keeping watch over her until police arrived
nix agreed he arrived at the mcdonald's soon afterwards summers ushered her fiance to the manager's
office then left him alone with laura and to the office phone laura was crying she couldn't leave the
office despite her desire to do so her only escape would be to run naked through the busy restaurant floor
she also felt physically intimidated by nyx who was a foot taller than her and weighed 230 pounds
laura stood with her back against one of the counters nyx sat on a nearby swivel chair and
spoke to officer scott who identified himself as a detective he requested that nix remove laura's
apron and describe her body unlike jason earlier nyx did as asked he also began relaying other directions
laura was made to stand on a chair and a desk so that she could be examined closely
then she was ordered to perform star jumps to shake loose any items she might be concealing in or on her
body she was forced to run on the spot until she worked up a sweat officer scott said that this would help
determine what kind of drugs she had taken he also had her bend over so that nyx
could perform a cavity search every now and then nyx would hand laura the phone so she could speak to officer scott
herself the officer told laura that if she wanted to keep her job then she needed to cooperate
occasionally donna summers or kim dockery entered the office nicks alerted officer scott whenever
they could be heard returning in turn he would tell nex to stop what he was doing
nyx would throw the apron back at laura and instruct her to be quiet laura did not tell summers about the
things she was being forced to do but each time she saw her manager she begged to be let go
by 6 50 pm laura had been in the office with nyx for almost an hour officer scott's demands were becoming
increasingly distressing when laura failed to address him as sir and continued to ask
questions nix was ordered to spank her as punishment while seated nicks made laura life face
down across his thighs and slapped her buttocks forcefully for almost 10 minutes large red waltz appeared on
her skin throughout the beating laura begged a knicks to stop she told him that the orders were
ridiculous her pleas only resulted in knicks hitting her more violently the beating concluded at about 7 05
pm several minutes later donna summers returned to the office nix was seated and laura was standing
with her back to the corner nearest the computer she had the apron covering her when summers moved close to get
something laura quietly begged please get me out of here donna please please i didn't do anything wrong
please believe me she asked summers to call the police directly but was told that they were still
waiting for an officer to arrive summers then left the office nyx and laura were left alone once more
officer scott resumed his instructions he told nix to have laura sit on his lap and give him a kiss
so that he could smell anything that might be on her breath laura went numb and felt as though her
soul left her body just before 7 30 pm officer scott demanded that laura remove nyx's pants and
perform oral sex on him she cried and pleaded with her captor stating no i didn't do anything wrong
this is ridiculous nix threatened to hit her again if she didn't do as officers got ordered
consequently laura was sexually assaulted yet again just over 10 minutes later at 7 52 pm
donna summers re-entered the office to fetch some gift certificates laura was again cowering in the corner
and nix was standing at officer scott's direction he handed the phone back to summers
nix then left the restaurant and got in his car he drove the few short blocks to his
home once inside he called a friend telling him i have done something terribly bad
meanwhile donna summers was following officer scott's directive to find someone to replace nyx in the manager's
office she selected 58 year old maintenance worker thomas sims he wasn't rusted on that day
and had just stopped by the restaurant to have a coffee and dessert summers asked thomas to accompany her to
the back office laura fletcher was inside attempting to conceal her naked body with a small
apron shocked thomas took the phone and summers left him alone with laura officer scott then ordered thomas to
remove laura's apron and describe her body he also asked repeatedly what laura was doing with her hands
thomas refused to comply and instead left to find summers he told her what the caller was asking him to do
and stated something is not right about this thomas demanded that laura's clothes be
returned to her and that someone called the police stunned by what thomas had told her
summers called the store manager lisa siddens officer scott had been claiming that lisa was on the other line
for the entire duration of his call lisa answered the phone sounding tired she had no idea what summers was
referring to and explained that she had been in bed sleeping summers became distraught and began
begging laura for forgiveness confused and concerned lisa headed to the restaurant
once summers realized she had been duped the caller pretending to be officer scott hung up
laura fletcher's ordeal had gone on for almost three hours freezing cold and trembling in shock she asked whether she
would still need to work her shift the next day assistant manager kim dockery reassured laura that she could
take as much time off as she needed she was given her clothes and allowed to dress
meanwhile lisa siddens and some of the restaurants other employees arrived at the scene
the panicked mcdonald's workers gathered in the manager's office after discussing the matter amongst
themselves they called the police at around 9pm as the mount washington police station
was only a quarter of a mile away officers arrived within five minutes in 2004 mount washington had a
population of about 8 500 people consequently the local police department was small
with just 16 officers on staff buddy stump was the department's only detective he had only been on the job for several
weeks when the call came through from the nearby mcdonald's he was the first of his colleagues to
arrive at the restaurant and listened in disbelief as he was told what had happened
there the cctv camera in the manager's office captured laura fletcher's entire raw deal
the footage enraged detective stump he suspected the prank call was made from a pay phone with inside of the
mcdonald's building so that the perpetrator could watch the fallout of his sick joke
the following day the mount washington police chief decided to type the words mcdonald's strip search into google
to his and detective stump's surprise the search resulted in hundreds of hits similar phone calls had been made
throughout the united states in all of the incidents a male caller would claim to be either a police
officer or another kind of authority figure then ask a store manager to assist with an investigation
their requests always involved ordering a strip search be carried out on a young
woman often a teenager most of the calls were made to fast food restaurants but grocery
stores had also received a few the caller appeared to be deliberately targeting small town communities
he had been active for 12 years with his earliest calls dating back to 1992. there was a sudden spike in reports
throughout the late 90s and early 2000s the mount washington incident wasn't the
first time he had targeted a store in kentucky on november 30 2000 a female manager
at a mcdonald's in litchfield received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer
he suspected one of the customers inside the restaurant was a sex offender and persuaded the manager to remove her
clothing in an attempt to bait the suspect into committing sexual assault he promised that
undercover officers were monitoring the situation and would rush in to protect her before
an assault could actually take place [Music] by the end of the year 2000 more than a
dozen of these scam calls had been reported when 2003 drew to a close there had been
almost 60 similar incidents police departments struggled to determine what actual crime had been
committed or how to pursue the caller this led to the reported phone calls often being filed under miscellaneous
as time went on the perpetrator's demands grew increasingly aggressive in february 2003 the perpetrator called
a mcdonald's in hinesville georgia pretending to be a police officer he commanded the restaurant manager to
strip search a female employee in the women's bathroom he then convinced her to bring in a male
employee and had him carry out a cavity search on the victim by 2004 there had been 70 of these
hoaxes perpetrated across 32 american states in february he targeted four separate
wendy's fast food restaurants in several neighborhoods south of boston massachusetts
investigators there initially believed it was a local matter but after looking online they discovered
the true extent of the offending a multi-jurisdictional task force was established to investigate the crimes
led by detective sergeant victor flaherty just weeks before laura fletcher was assaulted
a 17 year old female customer had a taco bell in maricopa county arizona was strip searched by a manager
while he was on the phone with the supposed police officer like laura the girl was made to perform
star jumps and endure a cavity search on this occasion the local law enforcement was aware of the wider
pattern and the task force established in massachusetts the maricopa county sheriff
gave an interview on cnn warning the public about the nationwide trend he called it a very dangerous
situation by the time laura fletcher was assaulted at least 17 mcdonald's managers had been duped by
the caller more than a dozen employees were charged with the various crimes as a result
but the perpetrator remained a mystery those who had taken his calls described him as having a calm
and authoritative manner his conversations were peppered with police jargon adding an element of authenticity
he often knew the names of restaurant managers or local police officers and used these to sound more credible
some managers carried out the caller's orders with enthusiasm but others cried while doing as they
were told one individual who assaulted an employee on the caller's orders later stated didn't want to be doing it
but it was like he was watching me upon learning of the scammer's extensive history
detective buddy stump made it his goal to identify and capture him once and for all
after the offender had hung up on his call to the mount washington mcdonald's an employee had the presence of mind to
dial star69 this function allowed a call made to a landline to be returned the employee jotted down the scammer's
number but it was listed to a non-existent phone despite this detective stump was able to
determine that a prepaid calling card from telecommunications company a tnt was used to make the call
this discovery had also been made by other police departments but they'd struggled to find any further
information detective stump was able to trace the use of the card to a payphone located outside a supermarket in panama
city a coastal city in florida more than 600 miles away after calling a tnt directly detective
stump learned that the largest seller of their phone cards in panama city was walmart a nationwide chain of
discount department stores there were three walmarts in panama city detective stump contacted panama city
police who put him in touch with detective victor flaherty the investigator leading the
massachusetts-based task force investigating the strip search scammer detective flaherty had already linked
the boston scam calls to an at t prepaid calling card sold at a panama city walmart
he had even isolated the specific store where it had been purchased however the store only had cctv cameras
covering its entrances and exits as there was no surveillance in place around its cash registers
there was no footage of the suspect actually buying the card nevertheless detective flaherty made a
note of individuals filmed entering the store at the approximate time the card was
sold detective stump and flaherty joined forces and began trying to find out when and
where the calling card used in the mount washington case was purchased they sourced its personal identification
number and determined it had been sold at another panama city walmart on friday april 9 at 302
pm less than two hours before the caller initiated laura fletcher's assault the card was purchased with cash so
there was no paper trail yet this particular walmart had surveillance cameras filming its
registers footage taken at the exact time the card was sold revealed that the buyer was a white man
aged between 35 and 40. he had dark slicked back hair and eyeglasses he wore a pair of pants
with a blue stripe down the side and a black jacket with small white lettering detective flaherty
recognized the man as one of the individuals he had noted entering the other panama city walmart
at the time the calling card used in the boston scams was bought on june 28 detective flaherty arrived in
panama city to speak with local detectives when shown the walmart cctv footage of
the suspect the panama city detectives immediately recognized his clothing it was the uniform worn by officers
employed at bay correctional facility a private prison in the area flaherty went to the prison and to the
warden identified the walmart shopper as 38 year old david stewart he was a guard who had worked the
prison's swing shift for the past 11 months stuart was married with five children
he'd previously worked as a truck driver and mall security guard he had also volunteered as an auxiliary
sheriff's deputy detective flaherty paid stuart a visit and after introducing himself asked
why would a sergeant from massachusetts be coming down here to talk to you stewart replied
that he had no idea detective flaherty then queried whether he had ever owned a calling card
at that moment it appeared to detective flaherty that stuart began shaking and sweating
profusely he unclipped the tie he was wearing and asked whether anyone had been hurt
detective flaherty said that no one had been physically harmed but he was sure there would be ongoing
mental traumas stewart then remarked amen it's over continue supporting your favorite local
restaurants safely doordash is the app that brings you food you're craving right now right to your door there are
thousands of restaurants open for delivery on doordash that need your patronage now
more than ever before ordering is easy open the app choose what you want to eat and your food will be left
safely outside your door with the new contactless delivery drop-off setting with more than 300 000 partners in
australia the us puerto rico and canada you can support your local go-to's or choose from favorite national
restaurants like subway wendy's or baskin robbins doordash is committed to keeping the communities they operate
in safe which is why contactless delivery is now in effect right now listeners of case file can get
five dollars off and zero delivery fees on their first order of fifteen dollars or more
when you download the doordash app and enter code case file that's five dollars off and
zero delivery fees on your first order when you download the door dash app in the app store
and enter code case file don't forget that's code case file for five dollars off your first
order with door dash this holiday season more people will be doing their shopping online than ever
before if you're an e-commerce seller are you ready for a record-breaking online
shopping season be ready with shipstation shipstation is the number one choice of
online sellers because it's the fastest easiest and most affordable way to manage and ship
your orders the great news is that shipstation is now available in australia the uk and canada as well as the united
states no matter whether you're selling on ebay amazon shopify or one of many other popular selling
sites shipstation brings all your orders into one simple interface this makes them super easy to manage
from any device including your phone in just a few clicks you'll be managing orders of any size
printing labels and getting your products out to happy customers and right now case file listeners can
try shipstation free for 60 days when you use offer code case file be ready for the busiest online shopping
season yet at shipstation.com click on the microphone at the top of the home page
and type in case file that's shipstation.com offer code case file shipstation.com
make ship happen when's the last time you got rewarded for brushing your teeth with quip's new smart electric
toothbrush good habits can earn you great perks you've probably heard us talk about quip a million times
but this is something brand new that rewards you and your mouth the quip smart brush for
adults and kids connects to the quip app via bluetooth this helps you track when and how well
you brush and provides you with tips and coaching to improve your habits the quip app enables you to earn points
for daily brushing and bonus points for completing challenges like brushing streaks
you can then redeem those points for rewards such as free products gift cards and discounts from quip and
other partners join over 5 million people who use quip and save hundreds compared to other
bluetooth brushes when you get equipped smart brush for just 45 dollars start getting rewards for
brushing your teeth today and go to get quip dot com slash case file right now to get your
first refill free that's your first refill free at get quip dot com slash case file
spelled g-e-t-q-u-i-p dot com slash case file quip better oral health made simple and
rewarding is there something interfering with your happiness or preventing you from
achieving your goals better help wants you to start living a happier life today better help is not a crisis line
and it's not self-help it's professional counselling done securely online and it's available for clients worldwide
members of the case file team use betterhelp to bounce thoughts off a licensed professional
and to get ideas from a different perspective it works so well for those with a busy
lifestyle there's no travel involved and no time wasted sitting in a waiting room
plus you fill out a survey when you sign up so you're matched with a counsellor best suited to your needs
betterhelp is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches so they make it easy and free to change
counsellors if needed visit betterhelp.com file that's better h-e-l-p and to join the over one million people
who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional
in fact so many people have been using betterhelp that they are recruiting additional
counsellors in all 50 states as a special offer for case file listeners get 10 off your first month at betterhelp.com
file despite his cryptic remark expressing relief that it was all over david stewart claimed to know nothing
about the scam calls and denied ever owning a calling card he then promptly retained a lawyer and
reserved the right to remain silent massachusetts investigators were unsure what to even charge him with
and panama city police were unfamiliar with the calls he was accused of making 20 miles north of panama city officers
pulled into the dirt road that led to stuart's mobile home they had been issued a warrant to search
the premises inside the trailer they found multiple guns and holsters hundreds of law enforcement magazines
were scattered about there were also dozens of applications for jobs at police departments
a single prepaid calling card was recovered it wasn't the one used to call the mount
washington mcdonald's but it was connected to nine other scam calls made during the summer of 2003
the targets in those calls included wendy's and burger king restaurants in idaho and oklahoma
the first of david stewart's charges was handed down by mount washington police they charged him with soliciting for
sodomy which was a felony crime he was placed under arrest and extradited to kentucky
he was also charged with impersonating a police officer as well as the misdemeanors of
soliciting sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment stewart pleaded not guilty and was
released on bail for one hundred thousand dollars his trial was slated to take place at
the end of the year the other individuals involved in laura fletcher's assault were facing
ramifications of their own walter nix was charged with sodomy and assault he maintained that he too was a victim
as he genuinely believed he was following the orders of a police officer even when those orders turned violent
and sexual his fiancee donna summers had been shown the cctv footage of nick's sexually
assaulting laura and promptly ended their relationship summers was initially suspended from her
assistant manager position at mcdonald's and later fired in dismissing her mcdonald's cited violation of company
policy specifically bringing a non-employee behind the store's counters summers was also charged with one
misdemeanor count of unlawful imprisonment the other assistant manager on duty that night
kim dockery was transferred to another restaurant laura fletcher never returned to her job
at mcdonald's the ordeal left her suffering from panic attacks insomnia anxiety and depression and she
was terrorized by nightmares of a man attacking her laura did graduate high school the month after her attack
but was too traumatized to enroll at the university of louisville as she had planned in a court document
filed that year she stated i can't trust anyone i push people out of my life because i don't want them to know what
happened laura fletcher filed a civil lawsuit against mcdonald's alleging that they had failed to warn
employees of the strip search scammer who was targeting fast food outlets in response mcdonald's stated in court
documents that laura herself was partially to blame for her assault they asserted that she should
have realized that the caller was not a real police officer the company's reaction upset laura and
played a part in her approving a play bargain for walter nix she wanted an apology and for her name
to be absolved his charges of sodomy and assault together carried a maximum of 20 years
in prison they were negotiated down to one count of unlawful imprisonment and one of sexual misconduct
nix had agreed to say sorry to laura in court and explained that she wasn't to blame
in october 2005 it was announced that nix would only receive probation despite previously agreeing to a
one-year term the prosecuting attorney said that he agreed to probation because nix didn't
have a criminal history and his story of being duped by an experienced hoaxer would likely be compelling to a jury
he did note however that it was troubling that somebody could believe performing a sexual act would form part
of any criminal investigation quote there had to be a point where he realized that this wasn't right
nick centered an alford plea which allowed him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that there was
enough evidence to convict him when laura discovered that this deal allowed a knicks to technically deny
any wrongdoing and would prevent him from having to register as a sex offender she felt betrayed yet again
her lawyer explained that her opposition stemmed from nix's claim that he'd merely been
following orders quote that is the defense made by germans at nuremberg you could be fooled into some of the
things he did but not sodomy on november 2 2005 nix's lawyer argued in court that his alfred plea be
allowed to stand she pointed to her client's remorse and his below average iq of 83 stating
he does feel terribly ashamed he has hurt his family and himself and laura nix offered a public apology to laura
saying i had no intention of hurting anyone nevertheless judge tom waller rejected
the plea agreement he had viewed the surveillance footage of the attack and was deeply
troubled by what had occurred he set a trial date for the following month at around the same time that nix's court
proceedings were being negotiated laura agreed to speak to the abc news program prime time about her ordeal
she explained how she had trusted donna summers believing her role as assistant manager
meant she would take care of her staff laura teared up as she described how she had felt during the
strip search stating i was scared i didn't know what to think i didn't know what to do
i was petrified she said that she had desperately wanted to escape the office but couldn't bear the added humiliation
of running naked through the busy restaurant laura's parents had raised her to do
what she was told without arguing and she said this made it difficult for her to refuse the orders of an older
adult the show included comments from a clinical psychologist who confirmed that laura's description
of feeling as though she had left her own body during the assault was common among survivors of sexual
abuse donna summers also agreed to participate in the program like her fiance summers was adamant that
she had believed the individual on the phone was a police officer throughout the
interview summer's version of events directly contradicted the cctv footage shown of the attack she said laura had
not cried or begged for the strip search to stop but the video evidence showed her openly
sobbing and pleading with her managers when asked why she left a naked teenager alone with her fiance
summers repeatedly stated that laura had always been covered up yet the interviewer pointed out that the
apron given to laura was small and only partially concealed the front of her body
summers denied ever seeing laura without her apron while nyx was supervising her
the interviewer attempted to show summers a portion of the surveillance video that showed her entering the office
while laura was completely naked summer's lawyer interrupted from off camera to prevent her client
from offering an explanation [Music] walter nix's trial date was delayed so that he could undergo a mental health
evaluation eventually his lawyers negotiated another plea deal in february 2006 nix pleaded guilty to
charges of sexual abuse sexual misconduct and unlawful imprisonment in exchange for a five-year prison
sentence when asked if she agreed to the deal laura confirmed that she did this new arrangement required nyx to
serve time register as a sex offender and to testify as a witness at the pending trial of the alleged
scammer david stewart three weeks later donna summers entered an alfred plea to her misdemeanor charge of unlawful
imprisonment she had initially intended to plead not guilty but an agreement was struck to prevent
laura from having to testify summers was sentenced to one year's probation the prosecutor had argued in favour of
summers being sent to prison stating it didn't matter whether summers thought she was dealing with police or
not if the president of the united states said to take that child's clothes away
and detain her in that room there was no excuse for it however leniency was granted after laura
said that she believed her former manager had been genuinely duped and was another victim of the crime
summers left the courthouse in tears she told the media that she never would have detained and stripped laura
if mcdonald's had warned her about the other scam phone calls david stewart's trial commenced on
october 24 2006 at the bullitt county circuit court it had been two and a half years since
laura fletcher's assault the delaying court proceedings was to allow for the charges against
nicks and summers to be addressed first so they could appear as witnesses against
stuart in their opening address the prosecution warned the jury that they would be hearing testimony so
bizarre that it would be difficult to believe yet the court was assured that phone records
and surveillance video would prove the defendant's guilt stewart's attorney insisted that the
allegations were false and there was no evidence to support them he claimed that police had only charged
his client because they were desperate to make an arrest walter nix took the stand and told the
court that within minutes of speaking to the individual calling himself officer scott he felt as though the man
had control of his mind nix described himself as easygoing and amenable to following authority figures
he discussed the tasks that officer scott wanted laura to perform and explained how he had conveyed them
on the officer's behalf under cross-examination by stewart's attorney nix was asked whether he had eventually
realized that the things he was doing had nothing to do with a police investigation
nix insisted that he had simply done as instructed and described the caller as a smooth
talker donna summers also testified she claimed she had spoken to three separate people
on the phone with the main individual being officer scott in the background she heard the static
of police radios summers said that officer scott had known the names of several of her
employees as well as the name of a customer in the restaurant he'd claimed that he had the store's
manager lisa siddens on another line summers even thought she'd heard elise's voice in the background
during the call under cross-examination summers was asked whether she thought the call could have been
made from an outdoor pay phone as the prosecution was alleging she said that wasn't possible
mount washington investigator detective buddy stamp was asked how the scammer could have
known employee and customer names or presented himself as three separate individuals he replied
that he didn't know as investigators were never able to verify those assertions laura fletcher who was now 20 years old
testified on the second day of the trial summers had claimed that she gave laura
the choice to be searched at the restaurant or be taken into police custody and that
laura had opted to stay at mcdonald's laura refuted this saying that she had begged to be taken to the police station
in the hopes that the matter could be sorted out there when the prosecutor asked why she never
tried to leave the office laura explained that she felt she couldn't as she was naked
and feared next might hurt her moreover she depended on the job to support her family
and was terrified of losing it as her father was an air force veteran she had been raised to respect
and obey her elders and authority figures laura said she had pleaded for summers
to help her on multiple occasions but was ignored while relating details of her ordeal to
the court laura noted there were gaps in her memory as she had quote blanked out some aspects of the
assault detective victor flaherty told the court that stewart had made the cryptic remark
amen at zova during their initial conversation stewart's attorney insisted that the
comment was made at the end of an interrogation and was an expression of relief that it
was over the defense attempted to cast doubt by pointing out that no one had seen stuart
at the pay phone where the three-hour call to the mount washington mcdonald's was made from
they also pointed out that although a prepaid calling card linked to several scam calls was found
in stuart's home it was not the one used to contact the mount washington mcdonald's
thomas sims the maintenance worker who had put a stop to laura's ordeal testified that laura
had stated she was going to get a big check as a result of what she had been through
thomas admitted that he'd never told the police about this remark and only repeated it to mcdonald's
corporate officials who had interviewed him later on stewart's legal team used this testimony
to theorize that laura had orchestrated the attack as a scam to obtain a large sum of money
laura's attorney told the media that the accusation that her client was involved
in her own assault was quote a ridiculous and desperate suggestion in his closing argument stewart's lawyer
told the jury that his client was nothing more than a full guy for police stating
they came to a conclusion then went about looking for facts to support it on tuesday october 31 the jury of
six men and six women retired to consider their verdict they returned to court less than two
hours later david stewart closed his eyes and bowed his head as a not guilty verdict
was read aloud the jury had acquitted him of all charges when he was permitted to leave the
courtroom stuart left in silence with his family he refused to speak with the waiting press
stuart's attorney celebrated the acquittal and told journalists it was the result
of what evidence the prosecution had but prosecutor mike mann said he was certain police had found
the right person he pointed out that there had been no further strip search scam calls since stuart was arrested
two and a half years earlier law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions across the country had
been waiting to see how the trial against you it panned out for many of the scam calls that occurred
prior to laura fletcher's assault the only crime stuart could have been charged with was a misdemeanor
extradition from another state would not have been permitted under these circumstances
after the jury in bullitt county kentucky found stewart not guilty there were no further
charges brought against him for any of the other cases throughout the united states of which
there were more than seventy laura fletcher was seeking more than 200 million dollars in damages from
mcdonald's she was suing the then 59 billion dollar corporation for assault battery sexual harassment and
failure to train her attorneys alleged that mcdonald's failed to protect laura by neglecting to warn staff about
the ongoing hoaxes the company had been aware of the issue for at least two years prior to her ordeal
there had been about 30 other scam calls to mcdonald's restaurants throughout the
country that involved girls and young women being assaulted and forced to strip in front of others twelve of these
incidents resulted in the corporation being taken to court in four different states settlements had
been reached in all of these cases laura's was the first to proceed to trial in addition to suing mcdonald's laura's
suit named assistant managers donna summers and kim dockery as well as david stewart
stewart responded with a letter that read in part i received your notice but i'm in no way
responsible i feel bad for your loss because i am a victim as well i lost my job my home and my car
all over something i did not do louisville newspaper the courier journal revealed
that florida property records indicated stewart had not lost the trailer where he resided
but he had dated it to his wife for 100 donna summers filed a cross complaint against mcdonald's for 50 million
dollars she claimed that they had failed to warn store managers about the hoaxer
her case would be presented alongside laura's in response mcdonald's asserted that
laura was the victim of a malicious hoax by individuals not representing mcdonald's
they blamed summers and walter nix for the incident as well as laura herself mcdonald's insisted that all three
should have realized the call was a scam they also stated that strip searchers had been against
company policy since 2001 and the summers should have known this as it was mentioned in the store manual
after a lengthy discovery period in which 57 depositions were obtained from more than 40 witnesses
the trial commenced in the bullock county circuit court on september 10 2007. mcdonald's had withheld
16 boxes of evidence regarding prior hoaxes from the plaintiffs on the grounds that handing them over
would violate attorney-client privilege a judge forced them to surrender the material
the evening before the trial began the case had received national attention and consequently it was difficult to
find jurors who were unfamiliar with it out of 110 potential jurors less than a dozen had never heard of the
case before eventually the pool was narrowed down to 15 including three alternates
the first witness for the plaintiffs was mcdonald's u.s security manager who testified via video
link about the other scam calls the company received between 1994 and 2004 he said that the company realised there
was a problem in 2001 after franchises began reporting the incidents a top attorney for mcdonald's conceded
that the warning about the calls was inadequate they said employees weren't told about
the scam calls because the corporation didn't want to discourage them from cooperating with the genuine law
enforcement officers expert witness barry collins who was a social psychologist from the university of california told
the court that all of the calls were likely made by a single perpetrator as they all shared an identical method
and signature he said that the perpetrator was someone who quote enjoyed being in control
and ruining people's lives and derived some sexual pleasure from his exploits professor collins explained that
managers who fell for the scam calls were won over gradually the caller would dish out compliments and commendation
to encourage the managers and assure them that they were doing the right thing his trivial requests slowly escalated to
more outrageous demands [Music] collins testified that if mcdonald's had been serious about putting a stop to the
incidents then they could have done so as they had intensive training programs set up on a range of
other matters a psychiatrist who had examined laura testified that she would suffer
post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of her life she was also fearful of strangers and
struggled with intimacy on thursday september 20 laura fletcher began what would end up being six hours
of testimony she broke down in tears as she discussed the assault and its long-standing impact on her
including her struggle to conceal her pain shame and humiliation from friends and
family when asked where she thought responsibility for the incident lay she replied mcdonald's
when it was time for donna summers to take the stand she wept and admitted that she had
considered taking her own life due to ongoing feelings of guilt summers said she prayed for laura daly
but acknowledged that she hadn't asked enough questions when the scammer called she insisted that mcdonald's had never
trained her on the matter or made it clear that strip searches were a violation of company policy
when asked why she left her fiance alone with a naked teenager summers said she had believed nix was
kind and gentle and said she would have trusted him with her own daughter in their opening statement mcdonald's
blamed donna summers for the assault by saying that if she hadn't violated company
policy by bringing nyx into the manager's office then it wouldn't have happened the company denied the assertion that
they had not sufficiently warned staff about the scammer a few days before laura's assault on april 9 2004
a voice message about the calls was sent to mcdonald's managers all over the country one of the
company's human resources executives testified that donna summers exercised poor judgment over a long period of time
and noted that she didn't have authority to remove laura's clothing or invite a non-employee
to the back of the restaurant a psychiatrist and psychologist who were paid as expert witnesses by mcdonald's
contradicted the plaintiff's psychiatrist by saying that laura's trauma was not permanent one
even suggested that she had grown stronger as a result of her assault the defense also argued that laura now
had a happy life with a long-term boyfriend and a well-paid job at a legal firm lisa siddins the mount washington
mcdonald's manager appeared on behalf of the defense she said she had received the company's
voicemail about the scammer but hadn't passed it on to her assistant managers because she didn't think it was
important she also added quote anyone dumb enough to fall for it shouldn't be a manager at mcdonald's
on cross-examination lisa accepted that the voicemail had been vague it merely referred to a caller
asking for employees to be detained and to mention nothing about strip searchers
when asked if she would have treated the voicemail more seriously had she known what sorts of abuses the caller was
demanding lisa answered yes and burst into tears lisa had worked for mcdonald's since
1981 but said she was unfamiliar with its policy barring strip searches and consequently couldn't have told her
subordinates about it it emerged that the company had never trained anybody on the policy
it was one of many listed in a 1 000 page manual the trial concluded after four weeks
the jury of eight women and four men were given 31 pages of instructions and 12 possible verdicts to consider
after deliberating for 13 hours the jury found in favour of laura's suit they assigned half of the blame for her
assault to the scammer and the other half to mcdonald's laura was awarded a total of 6.1 million
dollars this included 1.1 million dollars in compensatory damages and 5 million in punitive damages
the jury attached a note to their verdict imploring mcdonald's to offer more employee training on sexual
harassment and scam calls it was later revealed that the jury had taken so long deliberating because they had been
unable to agree on how much money laura should receive one juror wanted to award her 100
million dollars while another wanted to give her just one dollar the jury also awarded 1.1 million
dollars to donna summers kim dockery the other assistant manager who had been on duty at the time of
laura's assault was exonerated of any responsibility laura burst into tears upon hearing the
verdict and hugged her mother and grandparents she also embraced donna summers and the
two expressed their happiness for each other laura later told the press that she
planned to use the money to go to law school as her original college plans had been
derailed by her assault her lawyer described the verdict as a complete rejection of mcdonald's claim
that they bore no responsibility to laura or other employees who had been victims of the strip search scams
donna summers told the media it was never about the money it was about getting the truth out that
mcdonald's knew all along what was going on this was a complete vindication mcdonald's issued a statement that they
would be considering whether or not to appeal the finding and denoted quote as we've stated previously this
malicious hoax was perpetrated by individuals who do not represent our brand what happened to laura fletcher was
wrong and should never happen to anyone mcdonald's soon lodged an appeal more than two years later the kentucky
court of appeals ruled that they were upholding the jury's decision a three-judge panel found that
mcdonald's legal department had been fully aware of the scammer but made a conscious decision
not to train or warn employees or managers about the calls despite upholding the decision the
judges deemed that the jury's some awarded to donna summers had been excessive her payout was reduced from 1.1 million
dollars to 500.000 mcdonald's was also ordered to pay a further 2.4 million dollars in attorney
fees for laura laura who had since become a mother did not attend the appeal in person
instead one of her lawyers spoke to the media on her behalf stating that she was
thrilled to learn of the verdict mcdonald's then decided to appeal the decision at kentucky's supreme court
in 2010 while this petition was still pending laura settled with the company for an
undisclosed amount and mcdonald's withdrew their second appeal [Music] the case has drawn comparisons to a
famous experiment conducted in the early 1960s by yale university social psychologist
stanley milgram in the experiment professor milgram told his subjects that he was researching
learning what he was really studying was people's willingness to obey authority participants were asked to administer
electric shocks at an ever-increasing voltage to another individual whenever that person answered a question
incorrectly the individuals on the receiving ends of the sharks were in fact actors
who were not harmed at all the experiment found that the majority of participants were willing to
administer the electric shocks even if they felt extremely upset about having to do so
in 1971 stanford university professor philip zimbardo carried out a similar study
which came to be known as the stanford prison experiment his college student participants were
split into two groups and were either assigned the role of a prison guard or an inmate professor zimbardo's aim
was to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power the students embraced their roles
and the guards soon became authoritative and alarmingly abusive towards the inmates the experiment was
abandoned after just six days professor zimbardo was later hired as a consultant by one of the fast food
chains that was targeted by the strip search scammer he suspected that the person responsible had read up on
milgram's work and described him as very skilled in human psychology since mid-2004 there have been no
further reports of a self-identified police officer calling fast food restaurants to demand employee
strip searchers [Music] you

Case 157: The Strip Search Scam

***Warning: This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence***

Donna Summers led Laura Fletcher into the managers’ office, before locking the door behind them. She informed Laura that a police officer had accused her of robbing a customer...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-157-the-strip-search-scam

Brief Summary

Laura Fletcher was strip searched at McDonald's due to a hoax call, leading to legal action against the company and employees involved.

Key points

Laura's Ambition. Laura Fletcher, an 18-year-old, dreams of studying pre-med while working at McDonald's.
The Distressing Call. A prank call leads to a shocking accusation against Laura at work.
The Horrific Strip Search. Laura is subjected to a humiliating and abusive strip search based on a false accusation.
The Investigation Begins. Detective Sergeant Victor Flaherty leads the investigation into a series of strip search scams.
The Perpetrator Remains a Mystery. Despite multiple arrests, the true identity of the scam caller remains unknown.
Laura's Trauma. Laura Fletcher suffers severe emotional distress after her assault, affecting her life significantly.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I could never steal.

Laura protests her innocence to her manager.

6:59WatchSep 26, 2020

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.