I Survived a Serial Killer

In August of 1978, 14-year-old Lisa Gilbert and her 13-year-old brother, Randy, were attacked by a stranger in their newly built home in Lansing, Michigan. Their attacker was 23-year-old Don Miller. Miller was also a suspect in multiple local disappearance cases spanning the Lansing/East Lansing area. Lisa and Randy each recount Don Miller’s attacks on them; East Lansing Detective, Rick Westgate offers insight into the investigation; and author, Rod Sadler provides additional commentary.

In November of 1988, 27-year-old Enietra Margette is walking to a party in South Los Angeles, when a neatly dressed man in a souped-up orange pinto offers her a ride. Soon after getting into the car, the driver, Lonnie Franklin, shoots the young passenger point blank in the chest. By this time, he had already committed a string of grisly murders in the city. Enietra recounts in her own words her resilience and keen insights that helped her outwit the would-be murderer.

Survivor Morgan Rowan describes for the first time on television how she was brutally attacked in 1968 by social gadfly Rodney Alcala, during a party at his Hollywood home. Just three weeks later, Alcala would abduct and attack 8-year-old Tali Shapiro, who describes her chilling assault in her own words. Morgan and Tali were the only survivors of soon to be serial killer Rodney Alcala, who was convicted of five Southern California murders in the 1970’s. Alcala was so wickedly brazen that he actually appeared on an episode of “The Dating Game” during his murderous reign of terror.

In November 2011, 48-year-old Scott Davis sat in the backseat of a musty Buick–traveling on a rural highway in the Ohio Appalachia. He thought he was on his way to a gig as a farm caretaker, a job he secured on Craigslist. But it was a murderous trap, laid by a psychopathic serial killer named Richard Beasley. Beasley had already murdered three men during a four-month stretch before he encountered Scott. After the shooting, Beasley remained armed, dangerous and on the lamb. Would police be able to find him before the death count mounts?

In September of 1975, 14-year-old David McVicker is abducted while hitchhiking home from a friend’s house in Garden Grove, CA. His assailant, William Bonin, has an appetite for assaulting young men and boys, and just four short years after attacking David, Bonin embarks on an all out killing spree. David recounts in his own words his persistence and unfailing bravery in the mission to lock up the Freeway Killer, one of the most notoriously vicious serial killers to ever terrorize Southern California.

In September of 2008, Vanessa Gay met Anthony Sowell on a sidewalk in Cleveland Ohio. He invited her to share drinks and drugs at his home. She was unaware that she was walking into a house where 11 of his victims had been hidden and buried. Vanessa recounts her escape from death, as Detective Lemmy Griffin and Prosecutor Rick Bombik walk us through this murderer’s capture and sentencing.

On March 23, 1997, during just his third day of work at a local fast food restaurant, Jose Ramirez Gonzalez, along with three co-workers were attacked. Jose’s three colleagues were shot to death while Jose was stabbed and left for dead. Their attacker was 39-year-old Paul Dennis Reid Jr: a country-star wannabe who spent nights robbing fast food joints and killing innocent workers. Jose recounts the night he faced off with Paul Dennis Reid in a stock room and managed to survive. A second survivor, Mitch Roberts, who Paul Dennis Reid held at gunpoint in his own driveway, also shares his story.

In 1999, Cynthia Vigil was abducted and held captive for 3 horrific days in Truth or Consequences, NM. Cynthia managed to escape and report her experience to the police. Once her kidnapper, David Parker Ray, is taken to jail, an intense FBI investigation revealed that he has an entire torture chamber unlike anything investigators have ever seen called The Toy Box. Cynthia’s heroic escape opens up a Pandora’s box of kidnappings, torture and murder. In this episode, Cynthia recounts her incredible act of survival and strength and describes how she put an end to the horror brought on by The Toy Box Killer.

In November of 2016, Tiffany Taylor is held captive and brutally assaulted in Essex County, New Jersey after agreeing to give a ride to a man in exchange for some much-needed cash. What she doesn’t realize however, is that her passenger is a serial killer–who’s killed twice before, and is out for blood. Tiffany recalls in her own words how she used her quick wit and drive to survive to manipulate her would-be killer into unwittingly granting her a chance to escape his deadly clutches.

In April of 2016, 16-year-old Madison Nygard is walking home from a party in rural Muskegon County, MI when she realizes that she has become lost. When a passing driver pulls over and offers his assistance, Madison is relieved. Little does she realize, that her would-be savior is actually a serial killer–and is eager to make his next kill. In her own words, Madison retells the tale of her brave leap to freedom and her harrowing, narrow escape from a sadistic and depraved predator.

In November of 1986, 25-year-old Josephina Rivera’s life comes to a devastating halt when she’s kidnapped by 43-year-old Gary Heidnik. Over the next four months, Josephina lives shackled in a basement while her captor abducts four more women to hold hostage in his “house of horrors.” Josephina recounts a gripping tale of endurance and the shrewd calculations that helped her devise a plan of escape.