S1: E7 – The Toy Box Killer, Part 2

Summary

American Homicide: S1:E7 – The Toy Box Killer, Part 2

Release Date: November 21, 2024
Host: Sloan Glass
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

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Introduction

In the seventh episode of the first season of American Homicide, titled "The Toy Box Killer, Part 2," host Sloan Glass delves deeper into the chilling case of David Parker Ray, infamously known as the Toy Box Killer. This episode continues the harrowing exploration of Ray's gruesome crimes, the involvement of his family members, and the complex legal battles that ensued.

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David Parker Ray: Early Life and Obsession

Sloan Glass begins by painting a portrait of David Parker Ray, a seemingly ordinary mechanic from Elephant Butte, New Mexico. [00:30]

“David Parker Ray grew up near Albuquerque. He was a bit of a loner who was picked on at school. He was estranged from his mother and only occasionally saw his alcoholic father. But he spent a lot of time with his father's true detective magazines. They covered crime stories, one of the first of its kind.”

Glass highlights how Ray's fascination with crime began in his youth, fueled by his father's detective magazines and a growing obsession with pornography. This obsession escalated into violent fantasies, setting the stage for his later heinous acts.

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Family Involvement: Jessie Ray and Cindy Hendy

Ray's daughter, Jessie Ray, emerges as a pivotal figure in the narrative. Initially estranged, Jessie later becomes complicit in her father's crimes. [04:51]

Alex Tomlin: “I can't imagine what it's like to be the daughter of the embodiment of Satan. So I have to imagine her life was not an easy one.”

Jessie’s transformation from a concerned daughter to an active participant in her father's atrocities is both shocking and heartbreaking. Additionally, Ray's girlfriend, Cindy Hendy, plays a crucial role. Initially depicted as a victim, Cindy later becomes an accomplice, assisting in the selection and capture of victims.

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The Toy Box: Modus Operandi and Victims

David Parker Ray's method of operation involved a homemade torture chamber known as the "Toy Box," situated in the remote New Mexico desert. Glass recounts how Ray and his accomplices, Jessie and Cindy, abducted, tortured, and often killed their victims. [02:15]

“With those victims, he would kill them.”

At the time of Ray’s arrest in 1999, he faced over two dozen charges related to the kidnapping and torturing of at least three known victims. However, Ray maintained journals and videotapes documenting the abuse of approximately 40 victims, many of whom remain unaccounted for.

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Key Witnesses: Kelly Garrett and Cynthia Vigil

Kelly Garrett stands out as a primary survivor whose testimony was instrumental in bringing Ray to justice. Her harrowing account provides a window into the unimaginable horrors she endured. [07:38]

Kelly Garrett: “I have no idea. I just remember being in his house.”

Cynthia Vigil, another survivor, also played a critical role, though her testimony was complicated by her eventual death from a drug overdose before her trial.

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The Investigation and Initial Charges

Following Kelly Garrett’s disappearance and subsequent survival, investigators unearthed damning evidence, including videotapes and physical evidence from the Toy Box. [12:12]

Alex Cross: “We saw all of the images. Now some of them were hand drawings of David's, some of them were actual photographs.”

Despite this, prosecuting Ray proved challenging due to the lack of bodies and additional concrete evidence linking him directly to all the claimed victims.

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Trials: Evidence, Challenges, and Mistrial

The legal proceedings against David Parker Ray were fraught with obstacles. The prosecution's case heavily relied on Garrett's testimony and the video evidence. However, several factors led to a mistrial:

1. Credibility Issues: The defense questioned Garrett’s reliability, arguing that her memories might have been influenced by nightmares or substance abuse. [26:40]

   Sloan Glass: “I know that this is still a problem today...”

2. Evidence Exclusion: Key evidence, such as the initiation tapes where Ray detailed his plans, was excluded from the trial. [23:42]

   Alex Tomlin: “He played a tape that, in chilling detail, told them exactly what was going to happen to them.”

3. Trial Delays and External Factors: Multiple delays plagued the trial, including Ray’s health issues and the sudden death of the presiding judge, leading to a complete overhaul of the courtroom dynamics. A notorious incident involved a black bear breaking into the courthouse, adding to the case's bizarre twists. [36:00]

Ultimately, on July 14, 2000, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial. [32:27]

Alex Cross: “That trial ended up in a mistrial.”

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Aftermath and Ongoing Concerns

The mistrial left many questions unanswered, with Ray evading conviction despite overwhelming evidence. The episode underscores the systemic issues within the legal system, particularly concerning the credibility of victims involved in such traumatic cases.

Glass reflects on the broader implications, noting the persistent challenges in prosecuting cases where victims' credibility is unjustly questioned, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. [33:20]

Sloan Glass: “It's valid to question if that case were multiple women's bodies were found along a shoreline, would have been taken more seriously...”

The episode concludes with unresolved tension, as authorities continue to grapple with Ray's full extent of crimes and the psychological scars left on his survivors.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Sloan Glass [00:30]: “David Parker Ray grew up near Albuquerque. He was a bit of a loner who was picked on at school...”

• Alex Tomlin [04:51]: “I can't imagine what it's like to be the daughter of the embodiment of Satan...”

• Kelly Garrett [07:38]: “I have no idea. I just remember being in his house.”

• Alex Cross [12:12]: “We saw all of the images. Now some of them were hand drawings of David's, some of them were actual photographs.”

• Sloan Glass [26:40]: “I know that this is still a problem today...”

• Alex Cross [32:27]: “That trial ended up in a mistrial.”

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Conclusion

American Homicide: The Toy Box Killer, Part 2 offers a gripping and unsettling examination of one of America's most infamous unsolved cases. Through meticulous storytelling and impactful interviews, Sloan Glass not only recounts the grievous crimes of David Parker Ray but also highlights the systemic failures that allowed him to evade justice. This episode serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience of survivors and the ongoing need for vigilance in the pursuit of truth and accountability.

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Transcript

[Alex Cross]

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[Sloan Glass]

Clock's ticking.

[Alex Cross]

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[Sloan Glass]

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[Sloan Glass]

In our last episode, we covered the story of David Parker Ray. He would later be known as the Toy Box Killer. Today we're picking up the story with David Parker Ray and his girlfriend, Cindy Hendy, facing more than two dozen charges for kidnapping and torturing three women. It happened in his homemade sex dungeon in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

[Alex Tomlin]

He wanted to pick women who he could control, who he could scare, who he could hurt.

[Sloan Glass]

At this time, we knew of three victims, but that number would skyrocket. He kept journals and videos of his 40 or so victims.

[Kelly Garrett]

David Parker Ray, when he was finished.

[Sloan Glass]

With those victims, would kill him. The testimony of the three women who miraculously made it out alive was the key to prosecuting him. The victims, what they endured is just.

[Alex Cross]

It's unbelievable and so unbelievable that there were so many people when they were.

[Sloan Glass]

First told, didn't believe it was true. Not just the people who first heard it, but the jury as well. They weren't so sure what they were hearing was true either.

[Alex Tomlin]

This is one of those cases that's like. Until you get that last piece of the puzzle, there's really nothing else to do with it.

[Sloan Glass]

My name is Sloan Glass and this is American Homicide. You're listening to part two of the Toy Box Killer and a warning that this episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault and violence. Discretion is advised. At the time of his arrest in 1999, David Parker Ray was 59 years old. He was a mechanic for the New Mexico Parks Department and lived in the tiny town of Elephant Butte, New Mexico, where he was very well liked.

[Alex Tomlin]

So he definitely had a sense of power, of authority in that place.

[Sloan Glass]

Alex Tomlin was a local news reporter.

[Alex Tomlin]

He's this legendary figure here for all the wrong reasons. You know the joke all the time in the newsroom is the worse criminal you are, they give you all three names.

[Sloan Glass]

David Parker Ray grew up near Albuquerque. He was a bit of a loner who was picked on at school. He was estranged from his mother and only occasionally saw his alcoholic father. But he spent a lot of time with his father's true detective magazines. They covered crime stories. It was one of the first of its kind. David said his fantasies about assaulting young women began when he was flipping through those pages. Then came his fascination with pornography. David's sister found his stash of pornographic pictures and hand sketched drawings of women tied up and tortured. When she questioned him about it, he laughed it off and said it was his new hob. As a teenager, David Parker Ray even claimed he killed a woman, although there's no record of it ever happening. After high school, he bounced around from town to town taking jobs as a mechanic. He worked on cars, trains, and even fixed airplanes for the army. He was married and then divorced four times. He was a father and had a daughter named Glenda Jean Ray, who went by Jessie Ray.

[Alex Tomlin]

You know, I can't imagine what it's like to be the daughter of the embodiment of Satan. So I have to imagine her life was not an easy one.

[Sloan Glass]

Jesse didn't see much of her dad since he was always on the road. She grew up into a biker chick who drove a motorcycle and wore blue jeans with a black leather vest. She shot a lot of pool and was a regular at the local bars in the dusty town of Truth or Consequences, which is a blip on the radar and located right next to Elephant Butte. Back in 1986, when she was just 19 years old, Jessie went to the FBI with a warning about her dad. She claimed that he had been abducting and torturing women, then selling them to buyers in Mexico. The FBI investigated for over a year before closing the file, citing a lack of evidence. David Parker Wray was never charged with anything. He later went on to work for the state. So even after this tip to the FBI, he was able to get away with it. And who knows what really happened to make Jesse come forward. But she later claimed that she had made that story up. Jesse said he owed her money from when the two used to sell pot together. She wanted revenge. And then at some point, their relationship changed. Jessie Ray reported him, but it's clear after that, she became an active participant. Darren White worked for New Mexico's Department of Public Safety. Jessie Way. She was her dad's recruiter. She would go out and she would look for targets. So Jessie Wray went from turning her dad into the FBI to recruiting victims into the toy box. So not only was David Parker Wray's girlfriend involved in kidnapping his victims, but so was his daughter. Following David's arrest in 1999, investigators located dozens of videotapes in the toy box. One tape showed a slender woman with long blonde hair shackled to a table with duct tape covering her eyes. This woman had a distinctive tattoo on her right ankle. And that tattoo led investigators to Kelly Garrett. Kelly Garrett is an important figure in this story. Once a happy newlywed, her marriage was destroyed by an event she couldn't even remember. A story no one believed. Even she doubted what had happened. But it all started with a girl she used to hang out with. Jessie Ray.

[Kelly Garrett]

Jessie and I met. I don't remember exactly how we met. We had mutual friends, and anytime we'd see her at the bar, she would hang out with us.

[Sloan Glass]

When Kelly was In her early 20s, she moved to Truther Consequences, New Mexico.

[Kelly Garrett]

We had a lot of fun back in the day. We were always going out, playing pool, going to the lake. It was a lot of fun.

[Sloan Glass]

The tiny town of Truth or Consequences is famous both for its natural hot springs and its unusual name, which came courtesy of a radio game show.

[Kelly Garrett]

I think I had more fun here than I have anywhere else I've lived, But I think it's the people.

[Sloan Glass]

I had really good friends here back in 1996. Kelly was a newlywed, really. She had just been married for less than a week.

[Kelly Garrett]

And we started fighting that day. I don't even know what we were fighting about, but I told him that I was leaving.

[Sloan Glass]

So Kelly went out to blow off some steam from that silly fight.

[Kelly Garrett]

I was going to go Hook up with some friends and go play pool. And I did. There were several of us that went out and we were bar hopping. I wasn't drinking, I was driving.

[Sloan Glass]

There are just a handful of bars in the area, including a small biker bar named Raymond's. When you step inside, there are pool tables and a jukebox. It's dimly lit with strings of light shaped like jalapenos along the walls. That's where Kelly bumped into Jessie Ray, David Parker Ray's daughter.

[Kelly Garrett]

We weren't like close friends. We were just acquaintances kinda, because we would just hang out when we seen each other.

[Sloan Glass]

After Raymond, the group headed to another local bar called Bluewater Saloon. That's where Kelly's night took a bad turn.

[Kelly Garrett]

I ordered one beer and some friends of mine started fighting. They were a couple, so I took them home and came back and finished my beer.

[Sloan Glass]

When Kelly returned, the rest of her friends wanted to go home. So she let them take her car.

[Kelly Garrett]

Jessie and I were the last two.

[Sloan Glass]

And without her car, Jessie said she.

[Kelly Garrett]

Was going to give me a ride home. And that's when Jessie took me to her dad. She's the one that took me to him. She knew what was going to happen.

[Sloan Glass]

David Parker Ray wound up keeping Kelly in his toy box for two and a half days.

[Kelly Garrett]

When I was captive. I don't remember him saying too much. I remember him telling me at one point that they had been watching me for years.

[Sloan Glass]

So what did David Parker Ray do to Kelly in the toy box?

[Kelly Garrett]

I have no idea. I don't remember. I just remember being in his house.

[Sloan Glass]

She believes now that she was drugged, which affected her memory. And when she didn't turn up all weekend, Kelly's husband got concerned and my.

[Kelly Garrett]

Husband at the time put a missing persons report out on me.

[Sloan Glass]

A couple days later, Kelly remembers being driven in David Parker Ray's truck.

[Kelly Garrett]

The only thing that sticks in my memory from that ride is him stopping to get coffee.

[Sloan Glass]

Kelly said she felt out of it during the ride.

[Kelly Garrett]

David dropped me off at my mother in law's house, which is where my husband was. And he told her that he found me wandering on the beach out at the lake, Elephant Boot Lake, because he lives out there.

[Sloan Glass]

Kelly's husband had questions, most importantly where had she been all weekend?

[Kelly Garrett]

And I told them I didn't remember anything and they did not believe me.

[Sloan Glass]

Kelly's husband was furious. The two had had an argument and Kelly disappeared for the weekend, but returned with no memory of what happened. Her husband and his family didn't believe her. They all Assumed she was with another man.

[Kelly Garrett]

It felt horrible, but who's going to believe me when you say, I don't know where I've been all weekend. Not sure I would believe somebody if.

[Sloan Glass]

They told me that her husband was so angry that he wouldn't even let Kelly into the house.

[Kelly Garrett]

Like the next day we went to the courthouse and signed annulment papers. So we were married a total of 13 days.

[Sloan Glass]

Kelly never reported what happened to the police, and she tried to forget what little she remembered. Three years later, a news story would change everything. The report mentioned a woman with a tattoo on her ankle. Kelly's former sister in law was watching the news in shock. Prosecutor Jim Yance explains her ex in.

[Alex Cross]

Laws were vacationing, I believe in Southern California. And when they checked into the hotel, the person at the desk said, oh, you're from Truth of Consequences. That's where the story that's on the news is from. They didn't know anything about it, but they did recall Kelly. They did recall the tattoo. When they got back, they notified the FBI. They indicated that it was in fact their former daughter in law. And from that we were able to locate Kelly Garrett. And the tribal tattoo was matched to the tattoo on her leg.

[Kelly Garrett]

Beginning of March, I think somebody called and said they wanted to talk to me.

[Sloan Glass]

Two investigators arrived with the tape they found of Kelly in the toy box.

[Kelly Garrett]

Oh, yeah, they did show me the video.

[Sloan Glass]

After watching it, her memories of what happened still weren't clear.

[Kelly Garrett]

I remember bits and pieces, and if I remember enough of them, I can put them together.

[Sloan Glass]

Then Kelly shared some vivid nightmares she had been having these nightmares started after her time in the toy box.

[Kelly Garrett]

I would have a nightmare about somebody holding a knife to my throat or I would have a nightmare about being tied to a table. Duct tape has always been a trigger since then, but I didn't know why. It took me years before I could even say the word duct tape. I called it icky tape for a long time. And if I'm paying attention and somebody's using it, most of the time, I can stand there while they use it. But if they do it and I'm not paying attention, I scream and panic and run away and cry.

[Sloan Glass]

Investigators couldn't help but note the eerie similarities of Kelly's nightmares to what David Parker Ray did to his other victims.

[Kelly Garrett]

He always had his keys hooked on his belt loop. And that's a trigger, the jingling of keys.

[Sloan Glass]

The more Kelly talked, the more her painful memories flooded back.

[Kelly Garrett]

That's when it all clicked.

[Sloan Glass]

She realized that those nightmares she had been having were actually suppressed memories. And then it started to come back to her. She remembered her friend's father threatening her with a knife and then being duct taped and handcuffed to a fitness bench.

[Kelly Garrett]

It felt good that I could actually put things together, but it was also horrifying.

[Sloan Glass]

Police filed additional charges against David Parker Ray and arrested his daughter Jessie Ray. They charged her with kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration, assault and conspiracy. Jesse Ray was arrested 34 days after her dad was put behind bars with David Parker Ray, his girlfriend Cindy Hendy, and now his daughter Jessie Ray all in custody. Could prosecutors get one of them to flip.

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[Sloan Glass]

Learn [e-mail] it's now late 1999 and David Parker Ray still isn't talking, so investigators leaned on one of his two accomplishments accomplices girlfriend Cindy Hendy. Jim Yance was the deputy district attorney.

[Alex Cross]

Initially she described herself as being one of his victims, but she became involved in actually enjoying the torture part of it and became his accomplice.

[Sloan Glass]

If convicted, Cindy Hendy faced more than 200 years in prison, so prosecutors offered Cindy a deal. Plead guilty and cooperate with their investigation and they'll reduce the charges, meaning a lighter sentence. So Cindy Agreed to the plea deal. It required her to testify against David Parker Ray. This is where the story turns even darker and a warning. In all the cases I've covered, this is one of the darkest details I have come across. What she shared shocked the investigators. Cindy Hendy reported that David Parker Ray killed at least 14 people. He reportedly dropped the bodies in Elephant Butte, Lake and ravines in the area. She said to keep the bonnies from rising to the surface, he would do something completely gruesome. Parker Ray would cut out the stomach of each victim and then fill the body with rocks.

[Alex Cross]

The state police turned over every rock between Albuquerque and Elephant Butte trying to either find other victims, but we were never able to find those individuals.

[Sloan Glass]

Then in late 1999, David's accomplice and girlfriend, Cindy Hendy, had a change of heart. She stopped cooperating in the investigation. Cindy told the court that she was still in love with David. So she fired her attorney and asked to withdraw her plea. Cindy's new lawyer argued that Cindy had an 8th grade education and a mental disability. That made it difficult for her to understand the consequences of the deal she made with prosecutors. But prosecutors believe that David Parker Ray's daughter, Jessie Ray, helped to convince Cindy Hendy not to testify. The two had jail cells near one another and would often communicate. I cannot believe that is allowed. David allegedly wrote letters to Cindy urging her not to testify against him. Still, the judge ruled that Cindy Hendy could not change her plea. Even with the ruling, Cindy refused to testify against David. It was the first of many setbacks for prosecutors. David Parker Ray faced three separate trials, one for each victim. His lawyer argued successfully that if he was tried for his crimes against three victims together, he wouldn't have a fair shot at proving his innocence. So the three cases were separated into three different trials. They would go one victim at a time. Then there was this hurdle. And keep in mind, this was a different time. Two of those victims were sex workers, and prosecutors feared that that made them lack credibility.

[Alex Tomlin]

He knew the type of woman he wanted to pick up.

[Sloan Glass]

TV reporter Alex Tomlin covered the story.

[Alex Tomlin]

He wanted them to probably have a history of going out, of maybe drinking too much, of going home with people that they didn't know on the first night. He wanted to pick women who no one was going to cause too much of a fuss if they didn't come home in three days.

[Sloan Glass]

They had video of him torturing and raping, and investigators believed he was a killer. But without any bodies or other evidence, they couldn't charge him with any other Crime.

[Alex Tomlin]

They used to open the toy box for reporters to come in just to stir up people's memories.

[Sloan Glass]

As you can imagine, all of this affected tourism. No one wanted to go in or around the lake.

[Alex Tomlin]

It's one of those situations where you get around it, and it's almost like you can physically feel evil. It's a thickness, it's a sensation. It's the way your skin crawls, the way the wind hits you. It's just so uncomfortable. Somebody out there saw something. Somebody knows something. And it's just gonna be a matter of time until they say something.

[Sloan Glass]

Cadaver dogs also searched David Parker Ray's property, But the only bones they found belonged to animals.

[Alex Tomlin]

He was strategic. I mean, that's why he got away with it for so long. That was his game.

[Sloan Glass]

Then another tragedy. Three became two when one of the victims mysteriously died. Angela Montano was held in the toy box a few weeks before Cynthia Vigil. But just before the trial, she reportedly died of a drug overdose. She was only 28 years old. Suddenly, the first case, which was to find David Parker Ray guilty for his crimes against Kelly Garrett, one that seemed like a slam dunk for prosecutors, was crumbling. They needed Kelly Garrett to be a witness at her own trial. Here's Kelly.

[Kelly Garrett]

I told him no. I knew how much it was going to bring up. I knew how upset it was going to make me. But I changed my mind.

[Sloan Glass]

Ultimately, and bravely, she agreed to testify.

[Kelly Garrett]

People needed to hear. People needed to know that he was bad.

[Sloan Glass]

The trial, scheduled to kick off in the spring of 2000, faced delay after delay. The defense wanted the case tried outside of Elephant Butte in order to find an impartial jury. So the judge moved the case some 250 miles north to the tiny town of Tierra Maria. Then, in between four long weeks of jury selection, David Parker Ray was hospitalized twice with heart issues. More delays came when David's lawyer had to deal with a personal issue. When he finally returned to work. Both sides held several heated hearings about what evidence prosecutor Jim Yance could show to the jury. Some evidence was just too graphic. And there was another problem. Kelly Garrett was held in the toy box in 1996. But the evidence was seized in 1999 when police rescued Cynthia Vigil. Now, prosecutors had to prove that each piece of evidence was also present three years earlier. This led to dozens of pieces of evidence being excluded from the trial. The most heated debate over evidence involved the audio tapes found that described the crimes. In the toy box.

[Alex Tomlin]

He played a tape that, in chilling detail, told them exactly what was going to happen to them.

[Sloan Glass]

The judge did not allow it to be played at Kelly Garrett's trial because Kelly couldn't remember hearing it. But the judge did allow the jury to see a videotape of Kelly Garrett that was recorded in the toy box. When the trial began in the summer of 2000, that videotape became the prosecution's key piece of evidence. Jurors heard hours of testimony from law enforcement and first responders before prosecutors finally played that videotape. As the six minute video flickered on an old TV monitor, jurors leaned forward in their seats to take a closer look. The recording showed Kelly restrained on a table. It showed Parker Ray assaulting her by groping her and placing duct tape over her mouth and eyes. Without any audio, it would be up to Kelly to describe what happened before, during and after this six minute long tape. But remember, Kelly couldn't recall what happened. She believed she had been drugged for a long time.

[Kelly Garrett]

I don't think I was reliable because I couldn't compose myself enough sometimes to get out of bed.

[Sloan Glass]

For two long hours, Kelly sat on the witness stand and recounted what she could remember happened that weekend in July 1996. She said she had a beer at a local bar and then felt lightheaded. Jessie Ray offered to drive her home, but instead she took her to her father's place. Kelly remembered that David claimed to be a part of a satanic group that wanted to use her as a sex toy. Then they tied her to what looked like a weightlifting bench. She then explained how over the next three days, David Parker Ray abused her. She remembered his voice and said that at some point the duct tape over her eyes became loose and she was able to see his face. Kelly explained that she always thought what happened to her was a nightmare that eventually would go away. But it never did. It destroyed her life.

[Kelly Garrett]

I used to be fun and outgoing and I could go places alone. And now I stay home, very seldom ever go out. I can't even go to the grocery store by myself.

[Sloan Glass]

Prosecutor Jim Yance then warned the jurors of the graphic nature of what came next. They would see the inside of the toy box. As jurors nervously shuffled in their seats, Jim held up photos.

[Alex Cross]

We had jurors that asked for breaks. We had jurors that were just shaking their heads no. We actually had jurors sometimes that would put their head down or sobbing. It was incredibly difficult for them to hear it.

[Sloan Glass]

The court appointed public defender never called any witnesses to the stand, but simply used his cross examination of the prosecution's witnesses to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors. He asked Kelly why she never told the police or even her friends or family what happened to her in the toy box. With her hands trembling, Kelly locked eyes with the lawyer and explained she thought that these memories were nightmares.

[Kelly Garrett]

We couldn't prove that I was drugged because those drugs were found. Three years later.

[Sloan Glass]

The defense attorney used that same strategy to pick away at the contents of the toy box. The public defender set out to make each of the prosecution's witnesses unreliable. He asked the same question to each investigator who testified, do you know if these items were in the toy box back in 1996? One by one, they each answered, I don't know. As for the defendant, David Parker Ray, he wore what became dubbed his uniform, a striped cowboy shirt with brown jeans and cowboy boots. He appeared thinner than at the time of his arrest, and his slicked back hair had more streaks of gray. His demeanor changed from smiling and flirting with his attorney's assistant to looking tired and slumping over in his chair. He continued to complain of chest pain. And by the time both sides made their closing arguments, David Parker Ray was joined at the defense table with a giant tank of oxygen to help his breathing. As both sides stated their case to the jury, Parker Ray's lawyer again shifted the focus on the victims. He attacked Kelly Garrett's credibility and called her memory selective. He told jurors, if you're telling the truth, you don't have to remember. He argued that the sex between David Parker Ray and Kelly Garrett was consensual and that the video proved it. Prosecutor Jim Yance got in the last he pointed out that Kelly did not need to put herself through the pain of testifying to face the world, to tell them your most horrifying story and to be called a liar. But Kelly chose to do so in spite of all of that. The case went to the jury on the afternoon of July 12, 2000, and now it was in their hands to decide David Parker Ray's fate.

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[Sloan Glass]

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[Cindy Crawford]

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[Sloan Glass]

Imagine this just minutes after jurors began deliberations, David Parker Ray had to be escorted out of the courtroom. The now six year old felt a pain in his chest. His lawyer called it heart irregularities and he was sent to a local clinic for treatment.

[Alex Cross]

My greatest fear was David being released.

[Sloan Glass]

Prosecutor Jim Younz knew his case was strong, but he was afraid of what the jury would come back with. Yance was frustrated that the judge didn't allow some key evidence, specifically the initiation tape that David Parker Ray played for his victims. Although jurors didn't see all of the evidence, the investigators and lawyers did.

[Alex Cross]

We saw all of the images. Now some of them were hand drawings of David's, some of them were actual photographs. But no, I'd never seen anything like them before, nor do I hope to again.

[Sloan Glass]

While jury deliberations continued into their second day, the tiny town of Tierra Maria was packed with journalists waiting for a verdict. Prosecutors worried that the longer the jury deliberated, the greater chance of an acquittal.

[Alex Cross]

On day one of this investigation, everybody worked together for one purpose and that was to stop the nightmare.

[Sloan Glass]

David Parker Array then on Thursday, July 14, 2000, the judge called everyone back into the courtroom. By that point, the jury had spent days deliberating for all 12 counts. They couldn't agree on a unanimous verdict.

[Alex Cross]

That trial ended up in a mistrial.

[Sloan Glass]

The hung jury was a major victory for David Parker Ray who back in the courtroom, showed no emotion. The prosecutors were stunned. They learned from reporters that 2:20 something female jurors who were the holdouts for securing a conviction. The two said they didn't believe Kelly Garrett's testimony and one even believed the sex was Consensual.

[Kelly Garrett]

I was there willingly. That's what that was said in court. They found over 100 videos, but only found three of us alive. But I was there willingly because most of the people that he took were either into drugs or prostitutes, and I was neither.

[Sloan Glass]

It's true, at the time, these women were not seen as believable. And we know that this is still a problem today. I know this from my own experience covering the Long island serial killer. It's valid to question if that case were multiple women's bodies were found along a shoreline, would have been taken more seriously and solved years earlier if the women hadn't been sex workers. Even with her credibility being questioned, what was more painful for Kelly is what she heard from a juror.

[Kelly Garrett]

Some people like it rough. It was one of the jurors that said that some people like it rough. I'll never forget her saying, that's about the only thing I remember about that trial.

[Sloan Glass]

A man with a homemade torture chamber who had journals and videos detailing what he did to dozens of victims, somehow managed to escape being convicted. I was scared when Kelly's came back Hungary, I was really scared. Cynthia Vieja was preparing for her own trial. She didn't testify in the first case because she was the star witness in Parker Ray's upcoming second trial. I don't understand how a woman could not believe her. There's a whole video of her being tortured. There's drawings, there's rules. He had never trust a chained captive. What does that say? A chained captive. That tells you right there. They're there because they're not willing. So I don't know how, how anybody could believe that he was innocent. That's when I got really scared that they weren't going to believe me. For this trial, David Parker Ray would have to find a new lawyer. His previous attorney, a 12 year veteran of the public defender's office, announced that he was taking a new job in Antarctica. That's right. He was moving to a new continent. But before leaving, he stopped at a colleague's office with a message.

[Alex Cross]

Hey, look, I'm leaving the public defender's office and I've got a case I want you to take. Will you take it? I said, well, sure, what is it? And he says, it's that case. And I said, that case? And he said, yes, that one.

[Sloan Glass]

That case now belonged to Lee McMillan.

[Alex Cross]

They basically threw me to the wolves. David Parker Ray was one of those cases that every attorney hopes he'll get once in a lifetime and then finally gets one and never wants another one.

[Sloan Glass]

But then things took another strange turn one weekend when a giant black bear broke through a plexiglass window and rummaged through the courthouse. The bear wound up chewing on some cans before leaving. Along with a broken window and shards of glass, the bear left behind a bloody trail of paw prints. One courthouse worker joked that the case couldn't get any weirder, but it did. Before the retrial began, the judge, who was just 55 years old at the time, had a massive heart attack and died. Just the day before that, he had gone to the jailhouse and warned the guards to leave David Parker Wray alone. He had heard that he was being picked on. Replacing him was Judge Kevin Swayze, who at 38 years old, was the youngest district judge in New Mexico.

[Alex Cross]

This was his first major trial after he was appointed to the bench.

[Sloan Glass]

A new judge and a complete redo of the trial meant anything was possible.

[Alex Tomlin]

He had just told the police that he was ready to talk to them.

[Sloan Glass]

The prosecutors kept running into the it.

[Alex Cross]

Almost goes back to that whole this.

[Sloan Glass]

Is so outrageous, it's hard for people to believe. What lengths would investigators go to to get David Parker Ray to reveal his secrets?

[Kelly Garrett]

There was some talk that David Parker Ray would plead guilty to everything as.

[Sloan Glass]

Long as the state would make a deal. But would they run out of time? Probably the one thing that irritates the hell out of me about this case. In the final episode of the Toy Box Killer, prosecutors get another chance to convict David Parker Wray. And this time they'll get some help from an unlikely source. What happened in the end was something that shocked David Parker Wray's own lawyer.

[Alex Cross]

I did not trust that he would not start his own heart and walk out.

[Sloan Glass]

That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me Sloan Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz, with additional writing by Ben Federman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristen Melchiori. Our ihearti is Ali Perry and Jessica Kreinchak. Audio editing and mixing by Matt D'Alvecchio. Additional editing support from Nicaruka Tanner Robbins, Britt Robichaux, Dave Saya and Patrick Walsh. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library provided by MIB Music. Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alex Cross]

Now streaming on Prime Video. You can call me Detective Alex Cross. Based on characters created by James Patterson. We have to catch this serial killer. I don't kill for fun. And created by Ben Watkins. Ms. Kevin thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. Aldous Hodge is DC's funnest Alex Cross. If we don't find himself, assume we may never have another chance.

[Sloan Glass]

Clock's ticking.

[Alex Cross]

You think you can stop him? I know I can because I know him better than he knows himself. Cross a new original series only on Prime Video. Watch now.

[Cindy Crawford]

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[Alex Cross]

You wake up, put on your Ray Ban meta glasses. You're living all in.

[Sloan Glass]

You realize you need coffee so you say hey Meta.

[Cindy Crawford]

How do I make a latte brew.

[Sloan Glass]

Two shots of espresso After Meta AI.

[Alex Cross]

Gets you caffeinated, you're ready for some beats.

[Sloan Glass]

Hey meta.

[Cindy Crawford]

Play hip hop music.

[Sloan Glass]

You head to meet some friends but can't remember the place. Hey Meta. Call Eva Ray Ban Metaglasses the next generation of AI glasses. Just say hey Meta to harness the power of Meta AI shop now at meta.com smartglasses.