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This episode of I Survived is brought to you by Huggies. Babybutts, Rejoice. New Huggies Skin Essentials are here. A brand new dermatologist-approved line of diapers, wipes, and pull-ups training pants, all designed with baby's sensitive skin in mind. This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

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Chris felt like he wasn't worthy of someone as beautiful as he perceived me to be.

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Real people.

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I had to digest two serious facts, and that was, one, no one knows where I am, and two, no one's coming for me.

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Who faced death.

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The blood was everywhere. I had never seen anything like it. Blood was everywhere.

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And lived to tell how.

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I start praying to God, God, just let me live. Just let me live. That's all I want. Just let me live.

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This is I survived. It's November 2009 in Apollo Beach, Florida. Audrey meets a man through an online dating site. She's intrigued to learn that he is a New York Homicide Detective.

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His job was something that did attract me to him because he was this accomplished guy that knew what he wanted out of life. After about six months of us dating, we decided together that it would be best for me to move to New York City in order to take our relationship to the next level. It was a year and a half after we were dating that he decided to propose to me, and instantly I said yes, was thrilled, and we began planning our future for our family.

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After getting engaged, the couple soon welcomed their first child.

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After our first son was born, I was very eager to get married, but there was this lurking problem that I never really understood, and I didn't find out until after three weeks of our first son being born that it was because he was in fact married and was still married, had been married. I never even knew he was married.

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Audrey realized Chris was a compulsive liar.

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Things start out with one little lie about him being 35 when he's really 38. And that leads into him not being married ever in his life. That leads to other things, such as lying about where he is because he's actually out gambling or lying about who he's with because he's actually out cheating.

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Audrey gave Chris another chance, and they married. But after their second child was born, his behavior worsened.

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He started revealing how obsessed he was with me and how obsessed he was with other things in life, such as gambling. It was when he gambled away for the umpteen time, all of the money for the bills that I decided I had enough. And I just came right out and said, I want a divorce. We stayed together and lived in the same home, but in separate rooms for a matter of weeks before his first act of violence struck me.

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One night, Chris forced himself upon Audrey.

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Before I knew it, I was somehow on the bed. I don't even remember him throwing me or pushing me. I can't remember I don't even know exactly how I even ended up there. But I'm on the bed, and he's above me now trying to remove my pants. And I had been raped as a young girl, and I started going into this flashback. I started Start crying, half crying, screaming, confused. What are you doing? What's going on? Oh, my God, stop it. And he puts his hand over my mouth and tells me to shut the F up. I go into the car, load the kids, drive to clubhouse in the community and immediately call 911. I left that night and got my own place four days later. There was a number of days that Chris and I did not communicate at all. And finally, we got to a point where he had convinced me to go in and drop the charges against him and that we were going to be civil, that he was going to give me child support without a court order, that he was going to help me care for the children so that I could continue going to school and working full-time.

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Despite their agreement, one day Chris refused to look after the children.

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I came to his house after school. My kids were with their godmother and just stopped in to get something to eat, get something to drink, do some homework, and go for a run. It was when I came back that I ran into my next door neighbor and just chit-chat, Hey, how are you? How are the kids? Everything's great, and went to enter the home a second time. As soon as I entered the home, he was there stark naked with a butcher knife. So his goatee is completely shaped, his chest and his stomach is completely shaped, and his arms are shaped. Everything is shaped. And he just comes rushing at me. I instantly freeze. I turned for the door, and as I'm grabbing the door knob, he's scooping me up from behind, and the butcher knife actually accidentally cuts me. So I begin to look down at the floor and I see the blood dropping and hitting the floor. And this is when I say to myself, This is very real. What is going on and how am I going to get out of this? He takes me immediately into the garage, and there is this blanket placed there oddly, yet strategically placed.

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And he puts me face down on the blanket and begins trying to sexually assault me from behind with a butcher knife to my throat. So I begin saying anything that I think will pacify him. Chris, stop. I love you. I love you. What are you doing? I've been thinking about it. I wanted to be back with you. Just stop right now. And eventually, he does stop and then stands about three feet away from me and starts questioning me. And he's questioning the paternity of our oldest son. And I'm confused by this. How could he? This is a child that was planned. But I start trying to buy myself time, and I'm thinking in reality about how the hell I'm going to get out of this. And I finally say to him, We planned him. What are you talking about? He's yours. We planned him. And he says to me, I'm going to give you one chance to tell me, or I'm going to gut you like an effing pig. That's the point where in those moments or in a moment like that, you start trying to buy yourself time and you're thinking of how you're going to escape.

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And then he puts the knife down and picks up a hammer. I never noticed a knife. I never noticed a hammer. I never noticed a candle. I never noticed any of these things that were strategically placed and ready. So he switches to a hammer. He stands above me and strikes me in the head with a hammer two times on each side. And I can feel the blood running down the side of my face as I'm still laying there. And And I'm like, This is it. And I remember looking back at the garage door, and it was unlocked. So I'm laying there, and I start saying my final prayers. God, just forgive me for my sins. Take care of my children. Let me go to heaven. And then something comes over me, which is the image of both of my children as teenagers alone without either one of us. And I, of course, as a mother, cannot stand that thought. So something changes in me. And he picks up this container, which I can't even recall what it was in, and just tosses gasoline on me. Out of reaction, your body is that natural as it's coming at you.

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And I remember it hitting my hand I remember it going into my mouth and me swallowing it. And this is how I know that this is, in fact, gasoline, that this man that I once loved and swore he loved me is throwing on me. And I'm realizing that he doesn't want to just kill me. He wants to destroy the trophy wife that he chose. And I start praying to God, God, just let me live Just let me live. Just let me live. That's all I want. Just let me live. And the look that Chris gives me before he tosses that candle at me is one of finality. And he just tosses it at me. And I instantly go up in flames. All I remember is the urgency to get out. So I run for the garage door and I lift it up just enough to escape from underneath. And I can't even see. I'm engulfed completely, and I can't even see where I'm going. And I just drop immediately. But the problem is that every time I roll one way, I'm hitting the tree. And then when I roll the next way, I'm hitting the concrete.

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So it's not really helping.

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A neighbor, Veronica, heard Audrey's screams and ran to help.

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I can hear her screaming, Audrey, oh, my God, oh, my God. And she's running to me and starts hitting me with her son's jacket. And gets me out fairly quickly. And then Veronica is overcome by shock. This woman is screaming and trembling. And I'm screaming to her, Veronica, 911, 911. And she finally gets them on the phone, and they ask her if I can walk to her house and get into the shower to just stand under this water. And she's It's like helping me peel these clothes off of my body that are already melting to my skin. I'm just standing there with the water running over me until the ambulance comes and I can hear the sirens. And they put me onto the stretcher. Mind you, I'm naked, and my skin is literally melting off of my body. The adrenaline and the shock of everything is completely wearing off. And I say to him, We need to go. We need to go now. We need to go now. And I'm repeating. And I don't understand why I'm in an ambulance and I'm stationary and I'm on my way to death's door.

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Despite burns to 80% of her body, Audrey survived after extensive hospital care. After a failed suicide attempt, Chris was taken to the same hospital where he was arrested.

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During the trial, he actually accused me of attacking him along with a masked man, that I had been the one that tried to murder him. It's like the ultimate disrespect. It's the final slap in the face. Something that I knew pretty early on is that Chris felt like he wasn't worthy of someone as beautiful as he perceived me to be. And I think that he chose fire because he knew that if I survived, that he would have ruined me and no one else would want me.

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Christopher Hane was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder. He received another 30 years for arson and 30 years for aggravated battery.

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All of it was a façade from day one. This tough cop guy that's out there in New York City, fighting crime on the streets, was never who he really was. He was a coward the entire time. I survived because of two reasons. Number one, I was smart enough to pray in that moment, and God wasn't ready to take me. And because thinking about my two children growing up alone gave me the will to fight until I made it out.

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Find the perfect travel experiences for you. Do more with Viator. It's April 2012 in Sun Valley, Idaho. New Yorker Todd has type 1 diabetes. Todd decides to move West for a new job.

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I wanted to move out of New York because I was basically tired of my life there. Growing up for 30 years in New York, I'd had my run of it. I had a job opportunity waiting for me in Sun Valley, Idaho, and I took it. I packed my dog. She's my copilot. And so I basically had my life stuck in this little Audi, and I set off for the West.

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Todd decided he would take a route to Idaho he had never driven before.

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Taking the northernmost route in this type of drive is not the smartest decision. Simply because there's just unknown weather, and you've got to go through desolate areas. The night before all this happened to me, my third night driving, I drove through Yellowstone in a blizzard where I couldn't see the end of my car, and I was actually the most scared I'd been, probably ever.

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Todd came across a checkpoint in the middle of the wilderness.

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I don't know whether it was military or US government or Idaho government, but they told I was lost. I agreed. And they told me I had to go back and take my first left, and I've just followed that road, which I did. I turned around, went back, took a left, and it was right about that point where I began to notice that I wasn't all there. As a type 1 diabetic, you can have what's called a hypoglycemic episode. When that happens, you have too much insulin in your system, and therefore, you have a low blood sugar. When you have a low blood sugar, you You're going to be feeling some disoriented. You're described as punch drunk, and you're basically disconnected from reality.

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Todd had a diabetes tester kit containing one sugar shot for emergencies.

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I called my girlfriend at the time just to tell her what was happening. I had never experienced anything like that. And she said, You sound funny, Todd. So I tested my blood sugar. It was at 69, which is the very beginning of a hypoglycephalus glycemic episode. So I started drinking the one soda I had in the car, regular soda because it has sugar in it. And that was the last thing I remember. My GPS was programmed for the fastest route, Which unbeknownst to me, took me on a closed mountain road. I had no idea in being in a hypoglycemic state, not aware of my surroundings. I just followed what my car said. So my car ended up taking me onto this unbelievably dangerous mountain pass that is closed, and I had no idea.

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Todd began blacking out, but managed to steer his car off the road.

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It wasn't until I came to a couple of hours later where I realized I'm in a situation here. I'm in 4 feet of snow. My car is still running, and I can't move it. I was basically stuck in a part of the mountain where there was no cell phone reception, and and my navigator or navigation system did not have the wireless connection to make a distress call. I then had to digest two serious facts, and that was, one, no one knows where I am, and two, no one's coming for me.

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Todd made the decision to leave his car to find help. He packed a minimal clothing and his emergency diabetic drugs.

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My GPS told me I had 20 miles to get to someplace in Sun Valley. Probably take me about 15, 17 hours to walk the 20 miles. And once I get there, I'll just be real tired. But hey, at least I'll be there. And I thought, I'll wait until the snow melts and come back and get my car in the spring. So we started walking, and I let Lola run because the snow was hard-packed. But I noticed she was just running back and forth thinking this was just a rest stop, and that she'd get back in the car and go to sleep. And I kept trying to Tell her, Don't waste energy. Stop wasting energy. But she's a dog. She's not listening to me. So it wasn't until we got into the woods and out of the road, basically, we are now entered from what was the open part of the valley now into the condensed and covered part of the forest where we started sinking.

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The snow was so soft that Todd sank deeper with every step he took.

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The frustration that you feel from not being able to do something as simple as walk plays with you because after about two hours, I had gone nowhere. The amount of energy you waste just trying to get your foot out of trouble so that then you can put it in more trouble was unbelievably taxing. I'm not on a nice walk through the woods anymore. I'm now on a trek that I am now going to be fighting for my life.

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After 11 hours, Todd has only traveled a mile and a half.

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So at about 11:00 PM on the road, I noticed to the right and down about 150 feet was an opening. So I said, Lola, that's where we're sleeping tonight. We'll get cover. So I went down there, I took one of my T-shirts off and I wrapped it around a big stick, and I used my lighter and lit it on fire. I then collected all the pine needles I could find to create a mattress/bed. It's not comfortable, but I'm not on the cold ground. That was the whole point. My mind was racing. I was nervous. I was scared, but I probably slept a couple of hours. I'd say maybe three to four hours.

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The next day, Todd had to walk another 19 miles, carrying Lola to reach safety.

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I was trying to traverse a very narrow, steep part of the trail. An avalanche had made the road impassable at that point, so I had to go around all the debris three. And all of a sudden, I felt all the weight on my back, which was Lola and the supplies. I just felt a release. I turned around, I tried to catch the bag, but I couldn't. I wasn't fast enough. And Lola in her travel bag went tumbling down, I want to say, almost down to the river. So I want to say it was a darn near 2,000 vertical feet. I immediately panicked. I did not know what was happening or what had happened to her.

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Todd scramble down the rocky slope to the bottom of the valley.

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When I got down to Lola, I had ripped the back out of my Corderoy and I could feel myself bleeding. My backside, my rear end was bleeding almost profusely and uncontrollably, but that was the least of my worries. I expected to open the dog bag and see Lola with aaw on sideways or just a broken leg, a broken neck. Un unbelievably, she had survived. At this point, I was really scared because now we were off the road. We We're now down in basically the gully of the mountains, and I had no idea how to get back up to the road. I tried to walk next to the river, and it just was the same thing. I was potholing again. But this time the snow was even softer, so it was even harder. I jumped in the river. The river is probably 37, 38 degrees. There was still ice and snow on top of it at certain points that I had to break. But I knew if I was there and my feet could touch Earth, if I could touch ground, that I would be able to make more progress than if I were potholing in 5 feet of snow.

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I fell twice, soaked myself thoroughly. My feet are, again, freezing. My pants were ripped open from trying to get to Lola. So occasionally in the deep parts of the river, water would come into my pants and touch just bare skin. After about five hours of walking the creek, I realized I was shaking, and I was shaking uncontrollably. And I didn't know if I was having a low blood sugar again, which When you do have a low blood sugar, your general result is if you don't take care of it, you pass out. I knew if I passed out, I'm dead. I tried to test my blood sugar with my glucose meter. The glucose meter was frozen and was unable to test. Do I run the risk of running another low blood sugar, or do I take my glucagon shot and just pump myself full of sugar to make sure I'm okay? So I took my glucagon shot out, which is about a booster needle that you would see at a doctor. I just stuck it through my pants into my leg and gave myself all of it and just said, I'll just run a high blood sugar.

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I don't care at this point.

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As night fell, Todd's high blood sugar level depleted his energy.

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I pulled off, again, tried to collect as many pine needles as I could to create a bed where I wasn't just sleeping on the snow. My lighter no longer worked. There was no way for me to start a fire. There wasn't even enough dry branches for me to produce kindling. I could feel my body shutting down. I could feel my heart slowing. For sure, at this point, we're both going to die.

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Lo Lola lay on Todd's chest throughout the night to keep them both warm.

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That morning, I was so depleted of energy. I could barely even stand, but I got to my feet, and right then I look up and you could begin to see the road descending from its perch on the mountain. So I said, Lola, if we can get on that road by noon, seven hours, we'll be sleeping in a bed tonight. I'll probably be in a hospital bed, but we'll be in a bed tonight. That third day was the toughest day for me because as a diabetic, I had now gone about almost 70, 70 plus hours without eating. I remember at one point, I collapsed on the side of the road. I was basically fighting to stay conscious.

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In his delirious state, Todd heard noises.

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I started to hear dogs barking. And at this point, I am staving off delusion. I am staving off hallucinations. So when we start hearing this howling and barking, I wasn't sure what I was coming upon. Were it the wolves? Was it mountain lions? Was it basically something that was going to eat me, or was it a person with their pets? We came around to Ben, and I tell you, I've seen a lot of stuff in my day, but nothing was more attractive to me than the sight of another human being. It was a woman. They call her the Pet Nanny in Sun Valley. She had 12 dogs with her. She called 911. We had to walk about another half mile to get to a place where the ambulance could actually drive up to. And then I got in the back of the ambulance and basically, We almost started crying at that point. It was a sense of relief, a sense of I'm not going to die, a sense of I'm alive. And not only am I alive, my dog's alive. We did it.

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When Todd was admitted to the hospital, his body was in critical condition.

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They ran these tests on me, and their conclusion was I had about 5 to 6 hours to live. I thought for sure I was going to lose toes, my feet. And unbelievably, I didn't. I went through 12 bags of fluid to rehydrate and rejuvenate my body. But I didn't even have a cold. I didn't even sneeze.

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After three weeks' recovery, Todd was able to start his new job in Idaho.

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I survived because I refused to die. And I also survived because a 10-pound piece of fur that I call Lola What I love was a good enough dog to lay on my chest and keep my heart warm in freezing temperatures to make sure I was able to walk out of there.

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This episode of I survived is brought to you by Huggy's Skin Essentials. Having a baby comes with so many unexpected challenges, but diaper rash shouldn't be one of them. For me, there was nothing worse than seeing my little one with an uncomfortable diaper rash. It makes everything harder, from bath time to diaper changes, and left me feeling totally helpless. But now Babybutts can joy because new Huggy's Skin Essentials are here. A brand new dermatologist-approved line of diapers, wipes, and pull-ups training pants, all designed with baby sensitive skin in mind. The Skin Essentials diaperss features the SkinProtect liner and help protect against the top two causes of rash by managing moisture and runny mess. The wipes are thick and have zero harsh ingredients for a great gentle clean. And Pull Up SkinEssentials have got your big kid covered too, with a training pant that is ultra soft and breathable to help protect sensitive skin throughout potty training. So if you want the best for your baby's bottom, learn more at huggies. Com. Once again, head to huggies. Com to learn more. I survived is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking.

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Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some moving vehicle, there's something else you can doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts, discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24/7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at progressive. Com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all states or situations. It's August 1988 in San Francisco, California. Kim and Daniel are newly married.

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My husband and I had been married eight months. Just moved into a new apartment, looking forward to the new things associated with being newlyweds.

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One August morning, Daniel left for work, leaving Kim alone in the apartment.

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I had to be at work at 8:30, so it took about a half hour for me to walk to work. It was about 12 blocks away, about a mile. So I would typically leave the house around 8:00. Walking towards the door, and I reached out and grabbed the door knob, and I turned, and that's as far as I got. Once I turned the door knob, he was in, in the house. The next thing I knew was there were hands at my face. This man's hands were punching me in the face, scratching at my face. He started to guide me with his arm and with his hand, started to guide me into the living room, and he asked where the stereo was. And at that point, I was very relieved because I thought he wanted to rob me. So he said, Take me to your stereo. Well, he started whispering in my ear, he said, I'm in control here. And he a number of times, As we're walking, I'm in control here. Don't scream, don't yell. I'm in control here. And while he was saying this, he started punching me in the side. It was at that point when he started punching me that I thought, no, he doesn't want to rob me.

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There's more to it than this. That's when the idea of the rape came into my mind. Maybe he wants to rape me. We walked again as if we were one. He kept pace with me, always kept behind We walked into the living room, and he turned the stereo on, and then he turned it up full volume. My mind started racing. I wasn't sure what his plan was at that point, but I was thinking. I knew I couldn't overpower him. I knew I couldn't fight him, but I was thinking about what I could do. But I wanted to wait to see what he was going to do. I might have been able to gage what his plan was. If he If he did yell, if he did grunt, if he did raise his voice, but none of that. None of that. He was so calm. It was scary. I did tell him that I had some money, and I did. I had a few hundred dollars in one of my shoes, and he didn't react.

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The intruder directs Kim to the bedroom.

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We're still walking together. He's still punching me in the side. And we walk into the bedroom, and we walk past the bed. So we walked to the corner of the bedroom, and there was a window there. My thought at that point was, I've got to get someone's attention. It's eight o'clock in the morning. Someone has still got to be in this building, and I need to start getting someone's attention. So I lashed out and broke the window, and I started screaming. Loud, long, shrieky screams. It did nothing to him. He didn't react. He said, Get on the bed, get on all fours, face the wall, and don't turn around. He pounced on the bed, and he was behind me the whole time. He made sure that I really never got a good look at him. And from behind, he was scratching at my eyes. Because when someone's scratching your face, your eyes were closed, and yet he was still able to get my contact lenses out. A knock came at the door.

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A neighbor had been alerted by the noises coming from Kim's apartment.

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What he did was he took one of the pillows that was in front of me, and he stuffed it into my face. And at that point, I wasn't sure if he was trying to kill me or if he just wanted to quiet me down to hoping that the neighbor would go away, the knocking would stop, and the neighbor would go away.

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Kim could not breathe with the pillow smothering her face.

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I stuck my arm up into the pillow to provide a little air pocket because I wasn't sure what he was doing. I didn't know if it was temporary. And so we waited. He stopped. He never said a word. Just pulled the pillow up went into my face. He was still behind me. And of course, the neighbor went away. I'm squirming. I'm fighting. I'm trying to get out of his grip. And we're just doing this all around the bed. At one point, I fell onto the floor, and we had hardwood floors, and I started pounding on the floor with both of my hands. I can imagine I looked like a little child throwing a tantrum, but I was hoping that the pounding on the hardwood floors would get someone's attention. That was still my goal. And at that point, I tried to talk to him. I said, Why are you doing this to me? And he said, I'm doing this to you today, and someone's going to do this to me tomorrow. At one point, he fell in front of me and fell back on to his butt. His legs were open, and his crotch was exposed.

[00:35:49]

And my first thought was, Let's try to give him some pain, too. And so I reached for his crotch. I can't tell you what I was going to do, but I wanted to do something. But I wanted to do something, but his pants were extremely tight, and so I really couldn't do what I wanted to do. I really wanted to put some pain to him like he was putting to me. At that point, he was reaching for the iron. So he hit me in the back of the head, and he hit me again. One of them was to my forehead, one of them was to the side. One to the arm. I put my arm up. He broke my arm with one of them, and one of them He damaged my left ring finger. The blood was everywhere. I never lost consciousness, never. And I thought, I had to be driving him crazy. He's probably thinking, What do I have to do? He hit me seven times total, and the iron broke. The plate, the face plate, fell right off. He dropped the iron and said, Now you're going to get it. He's going to the kitchen to get something sharp, to get a weapon, something to finish me off with since the iron was broken.

[00:37:03]

I don't know if he's coming back. I don't know if he's rummaging through the drawers in our kitchen, looking for a specific instrument. I don't know what he's doing, but my thinking was, I have to get out of here. I pull myself up into the windowsill, and I raise the window, and I see my neighbor. I'm yelling at him, Call the police, call the police. And his response was, Don't jump, don't jump. I said, I don't know if this This man is still in the apartment. And so I popped up into the window seal, turned around, and I hung there from my fingertips. And I thought to myself, if I just hung there, the distance between my feet and the concrete would shorter. It wouldn't be such a bad fall. So I ended up letting go, and I dropped.

[00:37:53]

Kim fell 20 feet onto hard concrete, breaking her leg. She spent three months recovering the injuries inflicted by her attacker.

[00:38:02]

I think when couples experience something traumatic like this from that point on, it can go either way. But in our situation, it brought us closer together, and we're still together today.

[00:38:14]

Despite extensive police investigations, Kim's attacker has never been found.

[00:38:20]

I survived because not long after the attack started, the will to live kicked in, and I took advantage of small windows of opportunity, and that's why I survived.

[00:38:36]

A true crime podcast.

[00:38:38]

It got me upset because this is someone's kid, and someone knows she's gone.

[00:38:43]

That takes a different approach.

[00:38:45]

It was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town.

[00:38:50]

Focusing on the communities affected by life-shattering crimes.

[00:38:53]

It made news throughout the entire region that these two people had been shot while they slept in such a safe community.

[00:39:01]

To give a new perspective on the devastation crimes can cause. It was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town. Featuring cases from quiet towns to bustling cities, an interviewing the people closest to the case. My first thought was that it's an unusual location for us to have a homicide. Listen to the True Crime podcast, City Confidential, and step beyond the yellow tape to learn just how far a crime can reach.

[00:39:29]

There are certain cases in the history of Austin that I think define the city.

[00:39:33]

I think this is one of them. New episodes of the City Confidential podcast are available every Thursday, available wherever you get your podcast. It's summertime, and with Pluto TV's Summer of Cinema, the streaming is easy.

[00:39:46]

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[00:39:50]

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Tell me that's not the deal of the summer. Summer of Cinema on Pluto TV. Stream now. Pay never.