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Dr. Timothy Stryker
I always knew that I was going to be a doctor. My father's a doctor, mother's a nurse. So it was always in my blood to be a doctor. I never questioned it. One of my attractions to Lyn was that she was in a similar situation, being a very dynamic person, a very busy practice.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Linda was a passionate advocate. First and foremost. It was a dedication to her patients and especially high risk OBGYN patients.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
She knew her stuff. She was dynamic but she had this wonderful friendship with her patients.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I respected so much how she went that extra mile to really take care of her patients and do everything that needed to be done, help a mother have a healthy baby.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
In 1993, Dr. Stryker and Dr. Goudy had a relationship that lasted approximately four
Dr. Timothy Stryker
and a half to five years. We would go jogging together and we had dinners together. We had so much to share and so much compatibility.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Our office was notified on October 4, 1993. It was a Monday that there was a body found in a gray Saab in Lot A, which is on Winglen Medical Hospital. Investigation ensued. We realized very quickly who it was, that it was Dr. Linda Gowdy.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
That was kind of the wave that went through the hospital is, oh, my God, it can't be true.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
We did speak on the phone that evening that she died because she stayed at the hospital. She had phoned me to tell me she wasn't coming over for dinner that night.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
The cause of death being manual strangulation in combination with a lot of other factors lead us to believe that Linda knew her killer.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
It was that kind of stunned shutdown. Everything else sort of seemed a little bit more like a Twilight Zone around me.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
We thought, it's a matter of time. Certainly they're going to find who did this. So we were just amazed as time went on and time went on and they still didn't know. How could they not know?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
There was a development that I could consider in a case which has gone unsolved for now 15 years.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
They started going to this good cop, bad cop routine. And I knew at that point I was clearly being played with the evidentiary
District Attorney Jerry Leone
trail that we developed over the last 15 years. Timothy Stryker remains a suspect.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
How could I be blamed for something as terrible as this?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Oh, we can solve this case. I intend to solve this case.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I know that. I'm innocent here.
Attorney Michael Altman
Did the doctor kill the doctor?
Narrator/Host
Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.
Narrator/Advertiser
Doctor Lynn Gowdy was found strangled to death in the back of her car.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Stryker has been named as a suspect in Gowdy's death.
Narrator/Host
Depending on whom you believe, Dr. Timothy Stryker is either a calculating murderer or he is an innocent man desperately trying to clear his name.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I've spent hours just sitting and thinking, you know, how could people think that I could be guilty of something like this? Ask if they do that.
Narrator/Host
To look at him today at age 56, you'd never know. Dr. Stryker has spent 15 years dogged by such terrible suspicions.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
It just makes me sad that people could think this way about Me. Because otherwise, you know, you have to start looking for excess cortisol, excess aldosterone.
Narrator/Host
He built a successful endocrinology practice.
Narrator/Advertiser
Whose side are you on?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Mom?
Narrator/Host
And a family in a quiet Boston suburb.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
He's the epitome of stability.
Narrator/Host
Stryker's wife of 14 years, McHale, says her husband has shown no signs of violence.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
He's not a guy who loses it or somehow has an altered Persona that shows up.
Narrator/Host
And she'd probably know what to look for. She's a psychotherapist. He does present this very cool exterior, very flat, very unemotional, very in control, which makes you wonder what's going on behind the front, behind the facade. Do you think you know?
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Yes, I absolutely know. I think it's very simple with him. I think he's just a very sincere, extremely gentle, and even delicate person. He at all times looks to do good to the people around him.
Narrator/Host
That might be one reason he decided to become a doctor.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I just knew it from a very young age. That's what I wanted to do, you know, because it's my nature to want to help people.
Narrator/Host
It was one thing he had in common with Lynn Gowdy.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
She had so much dynamic energy, and
Narrator/Host
she was, by all accounts, driven. She earned top honors in high school and eventually went to medical school. While working as a medical technician, she was a successful OB GYN specializing in high risk pregnancies.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
She loved what she did. She was very good at it.
Narrator/Host
Paula Dennett is a nutritionist who worked closely with Dr. Goudy.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
She was new to the field, but you never thought she was just a rookie. You know, she knew what she was doing. And I'd say she was one of the more respected physicians there in terms of if you're having a problem or a complex pregnancy, Dr. Gowdy's the one to go to.
Narrator/Host
Lisa Zolot was one of Dr. Lynn Gowdy's patients who noticed right away that there was something special about her.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
Lynn was very good at at Sixth Sense, knowing that things were wrong.
Narrator/Host
On a routine visit, Dr. Gowdy had a sense that Lisa's unborn baby was in danger.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
She decided that I have the C section right away because something was wrong. And after she made the incision, there was bleeding everywhere. She just had a sixth sense that something was wrong and she was right. Without her, my daughter wouldn't be here. My daughter's name is Lindsey. Basically, we named her after Lynn.
Narrator/Host
From that day forward, Lisa and Lynn became good friends.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
We just clicked. It was just one of those things so we just became friends. It was easy.
Narrator/Host
Dr. Lynn Gowdy made a lot of friends around the hospital, including Dr. Timothy Stryker.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
So we met over lunches at the hospital and we started to share patients, because I would refer patients to her as a gynecologist.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
It became apparent that they were. They were friendly first. He was attractive, she was pretty. We could have just naturally evolved into something.
Narrator/Host
Before long, their work relationship did evolve into something more.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
We would sit and read together at night and do movies, and she got me into skiing, and then I got her into scuba diving in the Caribbean, trips that we took together.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
And it was just a lovely way to see how they interacted with each other, you know, that they would have fun together.
Narrator/Host
Jean Striker is Tim's sister and used to work for Lynn.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
They would often share the cooking responsibilities and the cleanup. But I always saw them interacting very positively toward each other.
Narrator/Host
By 1993, four years after they started dating, things really seemed to be going well for the couple. Lynn Gowdy and Tim Stryker were both at the peak of their careers, and their relationship seemed steady. Were you in love with her?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Yes, I was.
Narrator/Host
Lynn and Stryker kept spending time together and had even planned a vacation together to the Caribbean for some scuba diving.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I was looking very much forward to it.
Attorney Michael Altman
Was she?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Yes. And she was actually the one that made the reservations for the trip. And it was her idea. She was very happy about it.
Narrator/Host
But Lynn Gowdy never took the trip because just weeks before they were to leave, she had a dream.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
In this dream, she had this vision of being in a car, I think it was on the side of a mountain and driving around and then seeing a plane go crashing to the side of the mountain. And she took this as some possible bad omen that perhaps, you know, we might have a plane crash.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
And I don't know if that her sixth sense kicked in at that point, which wouldn't surprise me, that she had a premonition, whether it was precognitive that something bad was going to happen on that trip.
Narrator/Host
So what did Lynn plan to do about her dream?
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
She wasn't going on that vacation. She had thought that it wasn't a good idea and that she was not
Narrator/Host
going to go, but that's not what Tim Stryker says. Well, was she going to go on that trip?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Yes. She never said that she wasn't going.
Narrator/Host
Lynn's dream, her plans and premonitions were about to become more important than anyone could have imagined.
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Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Why have I asked my h vac
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
guy I found on angie.com to change
Narrator/Host
my grandpa's trachea tube?
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
I was so amazed at how he replaced our air ducts.
Narrator/Advertiser
I knew I could trust him to
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
change Pop Pops tube.
Narrator/Host
I think we should call a Dr. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects@angie.com. No one should have been surprised when Dr. Lynn Gowdy and Dr. Tim Stryker became an item. They were both successful physicians, active, adventurous and with a lot in common. But after four years together, they were starting to drift apart.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I guess towards the end of the relationship there may have been some stagnation because she was getting a little burned out from how hard she was working.
Narrator/Host
But Lynn's friend Lisa Zolot says it wasn't just Lynn's work that was burning her out. It was also Stryker who Lisa says was controlling and self centered.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
He was very rigid and very predictable in his lifestyle. He picked what time you ate, where you went, when you left. You know, he always controlled her tonally. It was no changing him. It was that way or the highway.
Narrator/Host
Stryker says Lynn's friends and family have been making up things about him ever since she died. Are you a flexible man?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I have to be flexible to be available when a patient has chest pain or to be available when somebody's traumatized.
Narrator/Host
Or what about in your personal life?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Again, I have to be flexible with my kids, with my wife. And, you know, so it's.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
It's.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Again, this is a story they tried to tell.
Narrator/Host
Whatever the cause, Lynn's friends believed she was getting ready to break up even as she and Stryker were getting ready to go on that Caribbean vacation.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
She was fed up with, I think probably the rigid schedule. It was getting old and she just couldn't handle it anymore.
Narrator/Host
Less than two weeks before that planned scuba vacation, the one Lynne Gowdy had a premonition about. Witnesses say they heard Stryker and Lynn arguing about whether to go on the trip. Colleagues remember Lynn Gowdy was not herself. Later that evening. Her hair was messed up. She seemed upset. One person saw her slamming medical charts around and stomping down this hospital hallway. It was September 30, 1993, the last time anyone has reported seeing her alive.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
She was going Friday to get a massage, and on Saturday she was going to her reunion. But she never made it.
Narrator/Host
Lynn was supposed to be out of town for the weekend, so her absence didn't worry anyone for a few days.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I didn't really see. Start to get concerned until Saturday night because she would go a day without calling me. But to go two days without calling me didn't feel right.
Narrator/Host
And then four days after she had last been seen at the hospital, Stryker got a phone call. Lynn had been found.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
They had located her car. And then after I got up to the hospital, one of the midwives actually at the hospital walking in the hall with me, say, well, you know, they found her body. She's dead.
Narrator/Host
Dr. Lynn Gowdy was found face down, wrapped in a blanket in the back of her car, parked in a remote corner of the hospital parking lot. Her colleague Paula Dennett was at work in the hospital.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Someone came up and knocked on the door, my door, and said, oh, my God, they just found Lynne Gowdy in her car and she's dead. And I just said, that's crazy. That's crazy. You know, she can't be.
Narrator/Host
Lisa Zolot went to the scene and bumped into Tim Stryker. He had his own theory about what happened.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
I will never forget him coming over the hill, gave me this big hug and told me I didn't really know Lynn, and that it was suicide and she probably took her own life. You know, I couldn't even respond to that. I was so upset at that point.
Narrator/Host
But Stryker says Lyn had struggled with depression and talked about suicide just a few months before her body was found. He says Lynn left him a note that said, I want to be dead. But it took the medical examiner, Dr. Stanton Kessler, just moments to determine this was no suicide.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
When I saw her in the backseat of the car, literally tucked in in
Narrator/Host
a very tightly wedged space, I said, nobody can do that to themselves. You can't even move your arms. The location of the car so far away from the hospital entrance told investigators something as well.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
It just was out of character for us, you know, what had parked there. You know, it was sort of away from everything.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
So now finding this car in a different space says, hmm, something's going on,
Narrator/Host
or maybe somebody else is driving that
Dr. Timothy Stryker
car and putting it there.
Narrator/Host
There was no apparent sign of sexual assault. Lynn's purse and its contents were still in the car. Kessler also thought it was odd that Lynn's shoes were so neatly placed on the floor by the front seat, and she was barefoot.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
The foot was clean, and it had rained.
Narrator/Host
It was grease and dirt. What do you think it proves? It tells me that.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I think somebody murdered her somewhere, probably
Narrator/Host
somewhere else, and placed her in there as an afterthought. They would not discuss any motives or suspects in the case.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
The official cause of death has been ruled homicide by means of manual strangulation.
Narrator/Host
And when Dr. Kessler did the autopsy, he discovered it was a particularly violent homicide. I think she was grabbed by the net like this and strangled, suffocated. The attack on Lynn was so brutal that Dr. Kessler found injuries at 24 separate places on her body. How much do you think Dr. Goudy suffered? I think she suffered a good bit.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
She was so full of life. Why would this happen? That was the question was, why? And then how could it happen? And then I think the who came after,
Dr. Timothy Stryker
You know, when she died was, initially, I was stunned. But then after that, for me, it was just sadness.
Narrator/Host
He may have been stunned. He may have been sad. But police were still eager to talk to Dr. Tim Stryker immediately after they discovered the body of his girlfriend, Dr. Lynn Gowdy.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I was actually called in to speak with his detective right there on the spot. And they asked me, you know, who do you think could have killed her.
Narrator/Host
Of course, it didn't take long at all for police to start focusing on the man they thought did it. The usual suspect, the boyfriend, Dr. Stryker himself.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
The cause of death being manual strangulation. In combination with a lot of other factors. And evidence that we've developed led us to believe, and continues to lead us to believe that Linda knew her killer.
Narrator/Host
District Attorney Jerry Leone says detectives quickly learned about the problems Lynn and Stryker were having. Even that argument witnesses reported about the scuba trip.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
The relationship had been described as sometimes rocky, sometimes volatile.
Narrator/Host
In plain English, I mean, was he violent to her?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
I don't want to characterize Timothy Stryker, you know, in. In that way. What we know to be true is that Dr. Stryker and Dr. Gowdy, during the course of their relationship, had some physical confrontations, and at times it resulted in some injury to Linda.
Narrator/Host
Stryker says he and Lynn had the kind of problems many couples have.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
And there was a time where she got very angry in my kitchen because I called her a pea brain. And she had a temper tantrum. There was a cup of peas and a cup of potatoes and a cup of corn. And here she was just throwing these at the walls, at my paintings. I grabbed her to pull her away from picking up the next thing to hurdle at the wall, and that's when she fell down and hit the floor and she bruised her ribs that time.
Narrator/Host
Lynn never filed a complaint. And Stryker says she. She was the aggressor, that he was just protecting his property.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I was never in any way verbally physically abusive to her. And I would like for people to talk to my wife or talk to the girlfriend that I had from 15 years ago, before I started going out to land that, you know, that has never been me.
Narrator/Host
Stryker's wife, Mikhail, was eager to talk. Have you ever been afraid of your husband?
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
No, I've never ever been a.
Narrator/Host
Have you ever seen a temper?
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Never.
Narrator/Host
Never hit you?
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Never. Never.
Narrator/Host
But it took a lot of anger for somebody to do what was done to Lynn Gowdy, Strangling her and stuffing her body in the backseat of her car. Nothing police found here at the crime scene pointed directly to Tim Stryker. It was more what they didn't find. Lynn's tote bag witnesses saw her carrying when she left the hospital wasn't in the car. Neither was the jacket she was last seen wearing or her briefcase, which some said she never left behind. Police couldn't find anything until they visited Dr. Stryker.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Well, I cooperated with him by giving them, you know, the briefcase that was in my House.
Narrator/Host
He not only had the briefcase, he had the tote bag, and he had a jacket that he says was his, but was the same color and style as the one witnesses saw Lynn wearing.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I gave them that jacket to facilitate them looking for her jacket, so they knew what they were supposed to be looking for. I was trying to help them. And they looked at it for blood stains and all that kind of stuff, and obviously that wasn't there.
Narrator/Host
Stryker was helping the police just as he said he was, but he was helping them confirm their suspicions of him. And he didn't help himself any when, just one week after the murder, he went on that Caribbean vacation alone. He was down there on the day of Lynn's memorial service.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Actually became an opportunity to actually have some time away. And for me to sit in a quiet space and start to deal with the emotion that I had to kind of shut down right after her death. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't gone, even though at the time it was therapeutic for me to do that.
Narrator/Host
Stryker's sister Jean agreed it was a bad idea.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
He did it mainly because my mother told him to. Yeah, my mother told him to go on vacation because he was talking with her, you know, about all of the harassment he was getting. And she's like, tim, you need to just go on this vacation. Because I thought it was not such a great idea.
Narrator/Host
Why did you think it wasn't a good idea?
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
I mean, here's this good looking, sexy, you know, doctor, and, you know, it's very exciting to think that he could possibly have done this. And they were making a lot of it.
Narrator/Host
It didn't look good.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
It didn't look good.
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
It didn't look good.
Narrator/Host
And when Stryker got back from the Caribbean, the police were eager to talk to him again.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
And they told me that everything about my story was checking out okay, but they just wanted to do a little polygraph so they could rule me out as a suspect.
Narrator/Host
And off you went to the polygraph.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
And off I went to the polygraph.
Narrator/Host
According to transcripts of the lie detector session, the polygraph examiner asks Stryker, do you know why I've asked you here? Stryker replies, the boyfriend is usually the number one suspect. Later, Stryker is asked, did you cause the death of Lynn Gowdy? And Stryker replies, no. When he's asked, do you think she was murdered? Stryker says, it's easier to accept suicide. The police told Stryker the results of the polygraph, in their words, clearly indicated he was involved. And that's when Tim Stryker said he did not want to Continue cooperating. The police say Stryker incriminated himself further after the polygraph when he told them, quote, I just put a noose around my neck. I can see my world crumbling. Did you say, after the lie detector test, I just put the noose around my neck?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
No, I would never say something like that. It would have been more like, I think you guys are trying to put a noose around my neck. Because my feeling at the time was that these people were trying to badger me.
Narrator/Host
Soon after Stryker got an attorney, the investigation into Lyn's death stalled. The polygraph test was inadmissible evidence, and the police didn't have much else against him. Stryker wasn't charged, but he wasn't cleared either. Far from it. For more than a decade, he remained the prime suspect, despite his consistent denials. Did you kill Lynn Gowdy?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
No, I did not.
Narrator/Host
Do you know who did kill Lynn Gowdy?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
No, I don't. And if I did, I wouldn't be in this situation.
Narrator/Host
The police investigation might have been stalled, but Lynn Gowdy's family would not be stopped. They believe Stryker was getting away with murder and proving it was now up to them.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
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Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
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Dr. Timothy Stryker
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Dr. Timothy Stryker
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Dr. Timothy Stryker
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Narrator/Host
Welcome to Radio Rental. The scariest stories you've ever heard in your life, all told by real people. And off we go. This wasn't a human being that I saw. There's something here in this house, something not of this world.
Narrator/Advertiser
There was a woman moving through the hall.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
I stepped back and I was completely alone.
Narrator/Host
Radio Rental is available now. Listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Narrator/Advertiser
Just got a new puppy or kitten.
Narrator/Host
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District Attorney Jerry Leone
The longer a homicide remains unsolved. That eats at me and it eats at our investigative team because we know that somebody could literally get away with murder.
Narrator/Advertiser
Gaudy's body was found in her car in front of a Stoneham hospital where
Narrator/Host
she worked with stryker in the 90s when he was a young. Assistant DA. Jerry Leone worked this case before it went cold. How do you solve a case with no witnesses, no physical evidence, no DNA, none of the tools you like?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
This is and always was a circumstantial case. But we build circumstantial cases all of the time. You take your time.
Narrator/Host
But after three years time, nobody had been brought to justice. So Lynn's family stepped in and did the only thing they could. In 1996, Lynn's mother, Marguerite Rayfuse, filed a wrongful death suit against the man she always believed killed her daughter, Dr. Tim Stryker. The suit charges Dr. Stryker, quote, willfully, wantonly and maliciously killed Gowdy by strangling her, unquote. It's a scathing accusation against a man who's never been criminally charged with Lynn's murder.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
If I think about what I would do if my daughter died and if I suspected that somebody else may have killed her, then I could see how I would have an agenda, you know, to try to bring somebody to justice. But they obviously are blaming the wrong person.
Narrator/Host
It's a civil case, not a criminal case, so it's easier to win. But Lynn's family still wanted the DA's file containing all the evidence against Stryker. And that turned into a long, drawn out legal tug of War. The DA's office considered this an open case and refused to turn over the file.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Well, I'm very disappointed with the way this thing happened.
Narrator/Host
The family wanted to prove their case. The prosecutors wanted to protect theirs. It went back and forth for nearly 10 years. But Lynn's family and their attorney, Michael Altman, kept up the pressure to get Stryker in front of a jury.
Attorney Michael Altman
Our feeling was, you do it or we'll do it. And it should not be, nobody does it.
Narrator/Host
And finally, in 2006, 13 years after Lynn's murder, her family won the fight.
Attorney Michael Altman
How you doing?
Narrator/Host
Good Morning, a court ordered the DA to turn over the criminal file. And armed with that, all rise. The Rayfuses were ready to do what prosecutors could not confront Tim Stryker in a court of law.
Attorney Michael Altman
He had a history of abusive behavior.
Narrator/Host
Altman says Stryker and Lynn often argued. Argued more violently than Stryker says argued. The last day she was alive, they
Attorney Michael Altman
were seen arguing in the corridor that evening. There was something that went awry. He lost control. He was a control freak. He killed her.
Narrator/Host
Please raise your right hand. Stryker had to face his accusers from the witness stand.
Attorney Michael Altman
Did you express feelings of anger towards her?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I never screamed at her. I never cursed at her. So I never, you know, expressed anger in any significant way.
Attorney Michael Altman
What was going on inside? Did you feel anger towards her sometimes?
Narrator/Host
Altman finally got a chance to confront Dr. Stryker with the one question he'd waited 13 years to ask.
Attorney Michael Altman
Did you get angry enough to want to strangle her? No, sir. Did you kill Lynn Gowdy?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
No, sir.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Throughout the trial, I felt really that there was nothing of substance being brought against him.
Narrator/Host
Stryker's wife, McHale, sat in court and listened as Lynn's family laid out the case against her husband.
Attorney Michael Altman
It was an angry Tim Stryker that killed her.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
But once the closing arguments took place and Altman spoke and wove this amazing fantasy of who this imaginary killer is,
Attorney Michael Altman
strangling is grotesquely personal.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
I really thought, you know, if I were the juror hearing this, this would be very compelling.
Attorney Michael Altman
Requires the hands around the neck and holding the person tight as they're gasping for breath and trying to escape, and
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
it doesn't burst out. It was just unbelievably painful to listen to.
Narrator/Host
Stryker has always said he didn't even see Lynn the night she was killed. But Altman brought in the briefcase, the tote bag and that jacket.
Attorney Michael Altman
Where were they? He had them. The jacket wasn't found in the car. The premier and bag wasn't found in the car. They were found in his apartment.
Narrator/Host
He calls them his three silent witnesses that prove Lynn was at Stryker's apartment the night she was killed.
Attorney Michael Altman
There's only one way they could have gotten there. She was carrying them.
Narrator/Host
Stryker says while they were dating, Lynn often left her belongings at his home. But Lynn left behind some other damaging evidence at her home.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
We do have her voice.
Attorney Michael Altman
It's in Exhibit 55.
Narrator/Host
Lynn Gowdy left behind notes revealing notes about her fights with Stryker. Altman says they are written in Lynn's voice.
Attorney Michael Altman
We could listen to her voice as to what happened.
Narrator/Host
She described a fight where she was
Attorney Michael Altman
injured up Angry, storms out through pearls, flips me into railing back and foot injury, shaking, chills, swollen foot.
Narrator/Host
Altman says the note proves Stryker could be violent. Stryker says Lynn was injured when they were practicing a dance step.
Attorney Michael Altman
Does that sound like a dance step? That's Lynn's voice describing what happened. Compare that to his.
Narrator/Host
Where are the witnesses? Stryker's attorney, Martin Leppo, says the case against his client isn't just weak. He argues there is no case. Where is one person, one scintilla of evidence, just one person who heard one noise of a fight in that house, of a person screaming. Leppo asked the jurors to use common sense and ask themselves one question. Has the plaintiff proved her case, that
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Lynn Gowdy was there that night and that Tim Stryker caused her death?
Narrator/Host
All rise. Special verdict questions. Question 1. It took nearly 13 years to get this case to a civil court trial. The defendant, Timothy Stryker, caused the death of Linda Gowdy, but it took only a day and a half for the jury to reach a verdict. Answer yes. So say you, Mr. Floorperson?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Yes.
Narrator/Host
Question two. Did he act maliciously, willfully, wantonly, or recklessly towards her? Yes. The jury believes Stryker killed Lynn Gowdy and in an extraordinary move, ordered him to pay Lynn's family $15 million.
Attorney Michael Altman
We're thrilled. This is fantastic.
Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends
Absolutely. And I can't thank my lawyer enough
Lisa Zolot / Jean Stryker
for hanging in with us.
Narrator/Host
It's not a criminal conviction, but for Lyn's mother and brother, Marguerite and John Rayfuse, it's one critical victory in their fight to put Stryker behind bar.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I think this was based upon a lot of emotion and still will definitely be appealing.
Narrator/Host
Nobody was surprised that Stryker said he would appeal, but everyone was surprised when nine months later, he and his lawyers announced they had found a brand new witness who could make this a brand new case.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
What he was swearing to was that on the night of September 30th of 1993, he saw someone in that sob with Linda Gowdy who looked nothing like Stryker.
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Narrator/Host
Doctor Timothy Stryker was suddenly facing the possibility of losing everything. His home, his money, his reputation.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
It's been obviously very difficult because I'm sitting here with this potential financial disaster over my head.
Narrator/Host
Yes. After a civil court found him responsible for the death of Dr. Lynn Gowdy, he was ordered to pay her family 15 million do. But that could all change and quickly because Stryker says from out of the blue came a phone call from this man who, according to Stryker, was in the parking lot the night Lynn was killed.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
He called me, you know, on the phone at my office, and apparently he had seen all this publicity, and he realized when he saw my face on the screen that I wasn't the person that he saw with Lynn Gowdy that night.
Narrator/Host
Craig Pisano was 18 at the time of the murder, and Stryker says Pisano told him one heck of a story.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
He told me that just went to a bar, out drink with his friends, picked up a girl, took her over to this parking lot over at the hospital.
Narrator/Host
Pisano said when he arrived at the hospital parking lot around One Amazon, there was only one other car there, Lynn Gowdy's Saab.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
He happened to pull up next to their car, and things started to get hot and heavy between him and this girl he picked up, and he walked over to their car to actually ask for a condom. He saw them engaged in sexual activity.
Narrator/Host
According to this deposition obtained by 48 hours, Pisano said when he knocked on the car window to ask for a condom, he got a good look at who was inside. But he said that he clearly saw Lynn.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Yes.
Narrator/Host
And he clearly saw the man she was with.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Correct.
Narrator/Host
And how did he describe the man she was with to you?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Over six foot tall, over £200. You know, a big man with blond hair.
Narrator/Host
In other words, Pisano said the man looked nothing at all like Tim Stryker. It's a wacky story, to put it politely.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Yes. No. And that's why I asked him a number of questions at the time to see if I could verify his story. And he also seemed to have information that clearly he wouldn't have had if just from reading the newspapers.
Narrator/Host
Pisano's story was just the break Stryker had been hoping for. And it was also a break for District Attorney Jerry Leone.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
When someone comes forward for the first time 15 years after an incident which was as very public as this one was and provided what on the face would be significant information which relates to a homicide, if true, caused us to look at this in a very meaningful way.
Narrator/Host
As soon as he could, Stryker asked for a new trial in an attempt to clear his name and get out from under the crushing $15 million court order. Well, let me ask you, because skeptics will ask, I mean, did you know this guy?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
No.
Narrator/Host
You'd never met him before?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Never met him.
Narrator/Host
Have you given this fellow any money at all?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
I have not given Craig Pisano any money or anything else that would anyway encourage him to come forward.
Narrator/Host
Were you involved in him coming forward at all?
Dr. Timothy Stryker
In no way.
Narrator/Host
And that is an outright bald faced lie, according to the prosecutors here. In fact, they say Pisano was never in this place parking lot that night, never saw Lynn Gowdy, never saw a tall blond man, even though he said he did in a sworn affidavit. So now there's a whole new chapter in this case.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
The affidavit is an utter and complete lie. It's a story. It's a story that was created by Tim Stryker.
Narrator/Host
Leone says investigators began pulling apart Pisano's statement soon after they read it and they discovered cell phone records that showed the two men had started talking. When prosecutors confronted Pisano, he admitted he lied. He refused to talk to us, but told Leone Stryker put him up to it. Pisano got immunity from prosecution. Stryker was not so lucky. He was arrested and hauled into court. Case of the Commonwealth vs Timothy Stryker. He was charged with perjury. It's not murder, but it is a felony. He could get more than 20 years charging conspiracy to commit subordination of perjury. And this time it wasn't civil court, it was criminal court. How do you plead, sir? Leone says Stryker made up the story and recruited Pisano through a middleman, one of his patients named Richard Chambers.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
All the facts of this story were provided by Stryker through Chambers.
Narrator/Host
Chambers was also arrested. And at a point pretrial hearing, Leone laid out the details of an elaborate scheme.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Chambers continuously met and talked with Pisano during these meetings. He would show a maps and diagrams which would show how he supposedly went from a bar drinking the night of September 30th to a parking lot.
Narrator/Host
And in return, Pisano and Chambers get
District Attorney Jerry Leone
what the initial promise is that Chambers and Pisano will receive several thousands of dollars. However, that comes with a Pretty tight caveat, and that is Stryker tells them, you'll get your money, but only when I'm out from under the civil judgment, because my money is tied up in the civil judgment.
Narrator/Host
In the civil suit, Leone charges Pisano and Chambers also got prescription pain pills and antidepressants. In return for their help, Pisano was
District Attorney Jerry Leone
provided those drugs to authorities. And the lot numbers on those drugs are tracked from a salesman to the pharmaceutical company to Dr. Timothy Stryker.
Narrator/Host
Stryker says the DA threatened Pisano with a lengthy prison sentence to get him to change his story. Leone denies that and says Pisano volunteered to tell him what prosecutors now believe is the truth. How do you know when the guy's lying?
District Attorney Jerry Leone
Well, ultimately, Craig will swear to tell the truth, and he'll tell the truth, but he'll also, in swearing to tell the truth, tell the fact that he lied as well.
Narrator/Host
But Pisano never took the stand. On April 16, 2009, Timothy Stryker pleaded guilty to multiple counts of perjury and was sentenced to four years in prison. For the Rayfus family, justice for Lyn's death could now be within reach.
Attorney Michael Altman
We are hopeful that Dr. Stryker will spend the rest of his life in jail, not just four years, and that an indictment for homicide will be forthcoming sometime in the future.
Narrator/Host
Whatever happens to him, Stryker will face the future without the one person who stood by him and believed in him. His wife of 14 years, Mikhail. She has filed for divorce. Jerry Leone made a promise to lynn Gowdy's family 16 years ago when he was the young assistant district attorney. He promised he would get the person who killed her, and he still stands by that promise.
District Attorney Jerry Leone
This plea today by Tim Stryker may close a chapter, but the book remains open in this case, and I will continue to handle the homicide investigation personally.
Narrator/Host
In 2011, Timothy Stryker died of pancreatic cancer while serving his four year sentence.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
You know what I realized?
Narrator/Host
The hardest part about building a website isn't making it look good. It's getting what's in my head onto the page. But I've been playing with the new WIX Harmony editor, and I'm impressed.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
You can literally just tell it what
Narrator/Host
you want, or if you're picky like me, jump in and move things around yourself. The nice part is you can hop between AI and hands on editing, and
Dr. Timothy Stryker
so you end up with a site
Narrator/Host
that actually looks the way you pictured it.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Try it out for free@wix.com Harmony can you keep a secret now?
Narrator/Host
Streaming on Paramount. Plus the money from your dad's life insurance finally came through. A new original series.
Dr. Timothy Stryker
Dad, it turns out I hadn't died.
Narrator/Host
Can you keep a secret? New series now streaming on Paramount plus.
Podcast Date: February 26, 2026
Host: CBS News / "48 Hours"
Episode Theme:
This episode investigates the controversial and tragic case of Dr. Lynn Gowdy, a respected OBGYN, who was found strangled in her car in 1993. The long-running suspicion and civil judgment against her boyfriend, Dr. Timothy Stryker, frame a decades-long quest for justice that unfolds through intimate interviews, family advocacy, courtroom drama, and a final twist involving perjury and the accused’s own downfall.
The episode explores the unsolved murder of Dr. Lynn Gowdy and the lasting suspicion that fell upon Dr. Timothy Stryker, her boyfriend at the time. Through interviews, legal proceedings, and the family’s relentless pursuit of justice, “Did The Doctor Kill The Doctor?” examines the intricacies of a case where circumstantial evidence looms large, and the boundaries between guilt, innocence, and reasonable doubt are persistently blurred. The podcast ultimately challenges listeners to consider what constitutes justice when direct evidence is scarce and emotions run deep.
“We would go jogging together and we had dinners together. We had so much to share and so much compatibility.” – Dr. Timothy Stryker ([03:29])
“It can't be true.” – Lynn Gowdy’s Family/Friends ([03:56])
“He does present this very cool exterior, very flat, very unemotional, very in control, which makes you wonder what's going on behind the front, behind the facade.” – Narrator/Host ([06:40])
“She had a premonition, whether it was precognitive that something bad was going to happen on that trip.” – Lisa Zolot ([11:12])
“She was so full of life. Why would this happen? That was the question was, why?” – Lynn Gowdy's Family/Friends ([20:02])
“The foot was clean, and it had rained.” – Dr. Timothy Stryker ([19:05])
"Did you get angry enough to want to strangle her?" – Attorney Michael Altman ([33:45])
"The jury believes Stryker killed Lynn Gowdy and in an extraordinary move, ordered him to pay Lynn's family $15 million." – Narrator/Host ([37:16])
"This plea today by Tim Stryker may close a chapter, but the book remains open in this case, and I will continue to handle the homicide investigation personally." – DA Jerry Leone ([47:10])
Lynn’s Saving Instinct:
“Without her, my daughter wouldn’t be here. My daughter’s name is Lindsey. Basically, we named her after Lynn.”
— Lisa Zolot ([08:38])
After the Polygraph:
“I just put a noose around my neck. I can see my world crumbling.”
— Attributed by police to Stryker ([26:14])
“No, I would never say something like that. It would have been more like, ‘I think you guys are trying to put a noose around my neck.’”
— Dr. Timothy Stryker ([27:11])
On the Civil Verdict:
“It’s not a criminal conviction, but for Lynn’s mother and brother... it’s one critical victory in their fight to put Stryker behind bars.”
— Narrator/Host ([37:40])
On Pisano’s Affidavit and Perjury:
“The affidavit is an utter and complete lie. It’s a story. It’s a story that was created by Tim Stryker.”
— District Attorney Jerry Leone ([43:22])
Closure and Continuing Doubt:
"This plea today by Tim Stryker may close a chapter, but the book remains open in this case."
— District Attorney Jerry Leone ([47:10])
The episode moves between clinical detail and raw emotion, reflecting both media professionalism and the personal stakes for those involved. Language is direct but sensitive, with poignant testimony from family and friends, balanced by legal process and investigative rigor. Dramatic narration, contested perspectives, and wrenching accounts of loss, accusation, and persistent doubt keep the story gripping throughout.
“Did The Doctor Kill The Doctor?” is a powerful, meticulously constructed exploration of the enduring pain of unsolved crimes, the complexities of the criminal and civil systems, and the lengths to which families will go for answers. From the close bond and tragic end of two promising medical careers, to courtroom battles, the fabrication of evidence, and Stryker’s ultimate downfall, the episode stands as a chilling reflection on uncertainty, obsession, and whether justice can ever truly be done when the facts remain forever in dispute.