Chapter 6 | The Snake

Summary

Bone Valley — Season 5, Chapter 6: The Snake

Podcast by Lava for Good | Host: Paul Solotaroff | July 8, 2026
Summary prepared for listeners seeking an in-depth engagement with this episode's findings and emotional impact.

---

Main Theme

This emotionally charged chapter peels back the dark layers of Howard Gombert’s abuse and its impact on multiple victims in upstate New York and Connecticut—focusing particularly on survivor testimonies and their consequences for the wrongful conviction of Anthony Di Pippo. Through vivid storytelling and survivor accounts, journalist Paul Solotaroff documents systemic failures by authorities, the horror of Gombert’s crimes, and the Sisyphean battle for justice by those wrongfully accused.

---

Key Points & Discussions

1. Anthony Di Pippo’s Legal Struggle & the Shadow of Howard Gombert

• (01:30) Paul Solotaroff recaps Anthony’s attempts to bring new evidence into court, highlighting the difficulty for inmates to simply obtain a hearing for new facts—especially in conservative Putnam County courts.
• The “devil” in their investigation is Howard Gombert, suspected in the murder of Josette Wright and numerous sexual assaults.

2. Howard Gombert: Origins of a Predator

• (03:00–07:30) Solotaroff traces Gombert’s abusive childhood, time living in the woods as a teen, and his skill at surviving and stalking prey.
• Survivor testimony reveals how Gombert ingratiated himself with vulnerable women and children, presenting as charming before turning violent.
• Notable Quote (06:47, Jane Gunderman):
  “You start out in a relationship, everything’s hunky dory... buying you gifts. Then they start with the little verbal insults... Then you start to feel, I don’t know what’s going to happen with this guy. He’s a little unstable.”

3. Jane Gunderman and the Escalation of Violence

• (06:47–11:25) Jane recounts her relationship with Gombert, which began supportively but devolved into sexual assault, domestic violence, and terror.
• After Jane became pregnant, Gombert responded with rage and physical violence, attempting to cause her to miscarry (08:46).

4. Sarah’s Story: Child Sexual Abuse and Its Aftermath

• (12:14–16:31) Sarah recalls, in heart-wrenching detail, how Gombert lured her—at age 7—into the woods, assaulted and photographed her, and then threatened her with death if she told anyone.
• Notable Quotes:
  • (12:14, Sarah): “I believe we went to a Kmart maybe and he bought me a fucking bikini... to wear.”
  • (13:32, Sarah): “He asked me to remove the bottoms of my pants and he proceeded to sodomize me.”
  • (14:55, Sarah): “In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn’t think I was going to live. I was terrified.”

5. Systemic Failures and Missed Interventions

• The episode details how Gombert continued to abuse Sarah in full view of her family, with authorities failing to protect her or investigate.
• (19:26, Jane Gunderman): “He was literally on the ground like a snake, trying to get away from them. I said, perfect... he is a snake.”

6. Survivors Come Forward and Prosecute Gombert

• With Jane’s and later Sarah’s testimonies, Gombert was arrested and ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual assault of a minor.
• (21:10) Sarah discusses the aftermath of her abuse, her trauma and eventual disclosure to authorities.

7. Gombert’s Pattern: A Predator Protected

• Investigator Lou Morgan outlines how Gombert targeted numerous girls using similar methods—rope bondage, objects for gags, trophies like panties—all signature markers of a serial predator.
• (29:30, Lou Morgan): “And that’s when we found out about a girl named Caruso.”
• Colleen Caruso, Gombert’s first known victim, confirms his longstanding pattern dating back to his adolescence.

8. Justice Denied: Anthony Di Pippo’s Battle Against ‘the Bear’

• Despite overwhelming evidence implicating Gombert, the Putnam County judge bars information related to Gombert’s crimes as prejudicial, dismissing it as too similar to the charges against Anthony—thus excluding vital witnesses and evidence.
• (37:04, Anthony Di Pippo): “Regardless of how much we impeached [the eyewitness]... she told the jury I killed the girl.”

9. After the Second Guilty Verdict: The Amy Ferranda Case

• (38:36–45:00) The episode introduces Amy Ferranda, yet another Gombert victim whose revelation after suffering a rape as a teenage babysitter (summer 1994) mirrors the circumstances in Josette’s case.
• Tragically, Amy’s disclosure to the investigation team came shortly before her suicide; her account is preserved through her sister’s affidavit.
• Key parallels between Amy’s rape and Josette’s death (restraint, gagging, underwear taken, knife threats) reinforce Gombert’s likely involvement.

10. Evidentiary Roadblocks and Suspicious Police Conduct

• Despite semen evidence and a rape kit from Amy’s case, Kent PD refuses to release the evidence, ultimately reporting it was “thrown out”—fueling suspicions of police shielding Gombert.

11. Relentless Investigation and a Legal Ray of Hope

• Anthony’s family, refusing to surrender, hires renowned post-conviction attorney Mark Baker, introducing new hope in the face of systemic opposition.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• (06:47, Jane Gunderman): On the progression from charm to abuse—“They just come home and that’s it. They’re just in a mood and they take it out on you.”
• (12:14, Sarah): Bitter memory of Gombert buying her a sexualizing bikini: “he bought me a fucking bikini...”
• (14:15, Sarah): The polaroids—“He did it like a deck of cards... But I did watch him set them on fire.”
• (21:28, Sarah): “It was like I needed to tell someone, but I didn’t know how to explain it because the words that I used were not adult words at all...”
• (35:39, Paul Solotaroff): Judge’s rationale for suppressing evidence—“Deemed their testimony prejudicial... the crimes against them were too close in nature to the crimes against Josette... a distraction for the jury.”

---

Important Timestamps

• 01:30–03:00 — Introduction of Gombert's move to Connecticut and early life.
• 06:47–08:36 — Jane Gunderman introduces the cycle of abuse.
• 12:14–16:08 — Sarah’s detailed account of her assault and Gombert’s threats.
• 18:00–19:45 — Jane and her daughter’s rescue, Gombert’s arrest.
• 21:28–22:31 — Sarah’s disclosure on the school bus; Gombert charged for child rape.
• 29:30–31:18 — Discovery of earlier victims: Caruso’s account.
• 37:04–37:54 — Anthony’s account of his trial and its emotional toll.
• 38:36–46:30 — Amy Ferranda’s rape, suicide, and evidence mishandling.
• 47:06–47:26 — Discussion of failures in police work and consequences.
• 48:30 — Introduction of Anthony’s new defense team.

---

Tone & Style

The tone is raw, sorrowful, and urgent—the stories are recounted by survivors and investigators in unvarnished language, with candor about the failures of the justice system. The narration is both empathetic and methodical, balancing the horror of the crimes with a dogged pursuit of truth.

---

Conclusion

This episode is a devastating exploration not only of the devastating effects of serial sexual predation but also of the structural barriers that allow monsters like Gombert to operate unchecked. The bravery of survivors, and of Anthony Di Pippo’s supporters, forms a stark contrast to official indifference—underscoring the need for systemic accountability. The quest for justice, while battered, is not yet extinguished.

---

Transcript

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

Want to pull off the season's freshest trends, you just need the right shoes. That's where Designer Shoe Warehouse comes in. Loving wide leg jeans? Pair them with sleek low profile sneakers. Obsessed with the sheer trend? Try it with mesh flats. Feeling Boho comfy sandals. Nail the whole free spirited thing. Find on trend shoes from the brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at dsw.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Milo's Money Days are here and we're making it rain for rewards members for the first time ever, when you make a purchase of $200 or more through July 12, you'll get up to $30 back in extra Milo's Money. Not a member yet? Join for free today because members get more at Lowe's. Milo's Money award varies based on status. Members in gold get 30, silver get 20 and bronze get 10. Milo's money valid for 30 days restrictions and more terms@lowe's.com Milo's moneydays joy is

[Jane Gunderman]

essential, and it's also elusive. But now there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy101 it's a new podcast hosted by me how to kot Me. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting and moving on air chats. Listen to Joy 101 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CBS.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This series includes sensitive and potentially distressing topics, including sexual assault and abuse involving children. Listener discretion is advised. By the time Anthony's second trial finally started, he gathered reams of proof, pointing away from his guilt and pointing instead to Howard Gombert as Josette's possible killer. Alas, proof compiled in prison is a far, far thing from proof presented at trial. To simply get a hearing is a Herculean climb for someone serving life without parole. You must first persuade a judge to grant your motion. If you somehow get that hearing, you must then convince the judge to let in new, relevant facts, not just the ones presented at your previous trial. And as Anthony had learned in Putnam county, the judges there seemed deeply disinterested in new facts. But to convey how strong his new proof was, we'll need to return our attention to the devil. When last we left Gombert, he pulled up stakes and moved across state lines to Connecticut. His father, Howard Sr. Owned a ramshackle house in the working class hamlet of New Fairfield. Gombert did not get along with his father, a burly, beer guzzling ex marine. We spoke to three of Gombert's victims who spent time in that house. They told us that Gombert and his father fought like sailors. They'd literally sucker punch each other in front of guests. At some point in his boyhood, Howard either ran away or was kicked out by his dad. Said those women. By the age of 15, he was living in the woods, sleeping in a tent in the dead of winter. He knew every square inch of those woods, the women told us, and fed himself on what he stole or killed. So when he returned to Connecticut in 95, as a man in his early 30s, he went right back to those woods in New Fairfield. There he hid out and prowled for fresh prey. It didn't take him long to find it. Do you hear my madness Laughter hides my fears Sorrow's depths are endless this valley appears. This is the devil's quarry. Just months before she met the man of her nightmares, Jane Gunderman was on top of the world. A nurse on the fast track to hospital administration. She ran a visiting nurse service in Connecticut. She was slender and striking and addicted to style. From fashion to sex in the city. But then she had a catastrophic accident at work and her life and career came crashing down. Her upper spine was damaged and the surgery made things worse. She went out on long term sick leave, then got hooked on her own pain meds. Confined to her bed, she was broke and alone and dealing with bowel disease.

[Jane Gunderman]

That's where all this starts.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Because that's when a guy started coming around doing odd jobs for the owner of her flat.

[Jane Gunderman]

That's how I met Howard.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Describe what Howard looked like in those days.

[Jane Gunderman]

Well, he was funny. He had a good sense of humor. Believe it or not, there was times that he could be very entertaining. He was good looking. He was not an ugly man. When I first met him, he wore all black all the time. And he wore black cowboy boots and he wore black jeans. And he always had a wife beaters T shirt on with a black vest and a black jean jacket or a regular jean jacket. And he always flipped the collar up, which I thought was hilarious.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Soon he was over there all the time.

[Jane Gunderman]

He used to bring me cigarettes. He used to bring me coffee. You know, he checked on me every day. And he was fun. He was like my best friend. I had no one around when I was recuperating and he used to come in every day to see if I was okay. No one had done this with my

[Narrator/Interviewer]

surgeries, though her health was Touch and go. She'd make an effort for him. The tomb would pop out for meals sometimes or just take a spin on his motorcycle.

[Jane Gunderman]

You start out in a relationship, everything's hunky dory, everything's beautiful. They love you, everything's great. You're falling in love, you're doing things together. All of a sudden, something will change. Something happens at work, whatever. They take it out on you. The honeymoon phases. They're buying you gifts. Then they start with the little verbal insults and you're not good enough. Or if you don't want to give me a blowjob, say I'll go get it from a whore. You know, little things that would make you feel very icky, you know, like just not nice. And then you start to feel, I don't know what's going to happen with this guy. He's a little unstable.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Gombert started forcing sex on Jane and then started taking swings at her.

[Jane Gunderman]

When you're with an abusive person, you are thinking about staying alive every day. You're thinking about, how is he going to be when I come home? Am I going to have to be on my defenses? Am I going to have. Have to be guarded all day? Or is he going to beat me up because of something that happened at work and not because of what I've done? Or is he going to take something I say or something I cooked wrong or make coffee wrong or whatever. They just come home and that's it. They're just in a mood and they take it out on you. One thing that clued me in, when he was starting, his eyes would get black as coal. There was no anything inside those eyes. Nothing. They turned black. It was weird. It scared the hell out of me. The one thing I would look at was his eyes. If trouble was a ruin.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At some point, Jane broke up with Gombert, then discovered she was pregnant. She broke the news to him in the yard of her father's house.

[Jane Gunderman]

I mean, when I told him I was pregnant, he didn't want to hear it. He just got angry and he threw me on the ground. And that's when he started, I don't want another baby. And he tried to kick it out of me. I was screaming, 91 1.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The cops showed up and took Gombert away. Jane went to a women's shelter and stayed there briefly, but she was mortally afraid to be alone. So she bounced around a bit, staying with friends. One of those friends was a woman named Kathy. While staying with Kathy, Jane grew fond of Kathy's kids. Of the three. Her darling was Sarah, a feisty but adorable 7 year old.

[Jane Gunderman]

I always thought of Sarah as my firstborn. I really did. Yep, that's how much she meant to me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Before her own daughter arrived, Jane found a cottage to rent. She furnished in the mode of Stevie Nicks. Silk fabrics and press flowers and scarves tied around lampshades.

[Jane Gunderman]

I loved that house that I poured my heart into that place also outside I did a lot of gardening and I made all kinds of. I had a beautiful old stump that had the cracks in it with, you know, the wood and the dirt. I even planted flowers in there and they grew like crazy.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Sarah Jane's favorite, remembers visiting her there.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

It always smelled like lavender. I remember walking in and you smelled lavender, lavender everywhere. But in, in a good way, not like an overwhelming smell. Like it was refreshing, it was bright with natural light. And it was so insane that there was such light in her home and such darkness came with it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Toward the end of Jane's pregnancy, Gumbert slithered back to her.

[Jane Gunderman]

Was absolutely the abuse cycle through and through. I never let Howard move into my house in New Milford until after Dana was born. He tried to come in the wintertime and I kicked him back to his parents and said, I didn't ask you to come here. I don't want you here.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Still he put his best foot forward. He helped her furnish and paint the baby's room and seemed genuinely thrilled about Jane's due date.

[Jane Gunderman]

When Dana was born that day, he cried his eyes out when he saw her. And he goes, oh, you're beautiful, just like your mama. And he just was enthralled with her. I was so amazed that this man who had been such an asshole about everything and beating on girls and all this stuff and beating on me that he was so enthralled with his daughter. I mean like in love with her instantly.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Shane recalls that summer being brutally hot and being knocked on her back postpartum. Her friend Kathy would come by to lift her spirits and sometimes brought her daughter Sarah to entertain the baby. One scorching Saturday morning when Jane was stuck in bed, Howard offered to take Sarah swimming. First, however, she needed a bathing suit.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

I believe we went to a Kmart maybe and he bought me a fucking bikini. Excuse my language, but he bought me a seven year old. It was like a leopard or cheetah print bikini to wear.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Then they drove over to Squan's Pond, a popular spot near his dad's house in New Fairfield.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

We parked on like a side of the street and then we Were going down a normal trail, like a dirt trail. But then he cut off into the woods and it was just like. I was like, where are we going? And he goes, don't worry, I know the way. Okay. And then all of a sudden, he brought me to a perfectly cut out circle of trees. It looked like someone made it that way. Like it was almost like he'd been there before and that's where everything took place and he knew where to stop. Now it looks like it reminds me of like a where you would do a sacrifice. I hate to say it, but it's really what it felt like.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So it was like prepared ground.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

Oh yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What happened next?

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

He asked me to remove the bottoms of my pants and he proceeded to sodomize me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Then Gomber took his shirt off and shoved it in Sarah's mouth because I

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

had screamed and he threatened me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Then Gomber climbed on top of her and produced a polaroid camera.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

When he first started, he was like touching me and taking pictures of down there. That's what the pictures were of. And it made it that much worse when he showed them to me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And it was more than one picture.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

It was multiple. It definitely because he. He did it like a. Like a deck of cards. When he showed them to me, there was probably like four or five, I would say. But I did watch him set them on fire. And I was so confused as to why he showed them to me. Like, why did you need to do that?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At some point, two men walked past them in the woods. They stopped to ask if something was wrong. Gombert told them no, they were perfectly fine. And when they Left, he raped 7 year old Sarah.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you remember him saying anything either during or after this to you, that

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

if I screamed I was going to die? That was pretty much it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Saying how he was going to make you die? No.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

He just told me that my family was never going to see me again. And I listened and I did, I did stay quiet. And then afterwards we carried on like it was a normal day. I got down to the rocks and he said, we'll jump off the rocks.

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

And.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

And I remember swimming out in the water and just looking out at all the happy people and thinking I. I didn't want to be there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

For months, Sarah stonewalled what had happened to her. And anytime she even thought about telling her mom, Gombert's threat rang out in her ears. But nor could she Will herself to forget, because suddenly Jane and Gombert was sleeping over at her house. He'd sit and drink coffee with Sarah's mom in the morning and take her two brothers fishing on weekends.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

And then when him and Jane came to my house, because he had also brought a box of gifts to me that my. I don't know if my mom went through them or what, but there was weird stuff in there like woman's lingerie and high heel.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Gombert was so brazen that he attacked Sarah in her living room while her mom was making dinner in the kitchen. And then he got up and walked away from her as if it was just another day around the house. Somehow, Jane suspected none of this. She had severe postpartum after the baby, as well as bowel flare ups that kept her in bed. Worse, Gombert was coming unhinged. He'd gotten hold of her lump sum from workman's comp and was blowing through it, buying narcotics. His poison of choice, crack cocaine, unleashed the beast in him. He'd come home hell bent for sex or violence, or often enough, both at once. Jane, like Sarah, felt cornered. And then one weekend In February of 2000, all hell broke loose in that cottage. Gombert held Jane and the baby hostage in their own home, raped and beat Jane for three days straight, and threatened to kill her. Finally, he maimed her in such an intimate way that it can't be spelled out here. All while their baby was desperately ill, spiking a very high fever.

[Jane Gunderman]

So, please, let's take her to the doctor.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But Gombert wouldn't let them leave the house. The baby's fever worsened. Jane's only hope. Gombert had a court date that Tuesday. If he missed it, they'd send the marshals to arrest him.

[Jane Gunderman]

And I remember thinking, they'll take him that day. Jane, just hang in there. Just hang in there. Just hang in there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Finally, Tuesday came. Gombert left for court.

[Jane Gunderman]

He wasn't out of the driveway two seconds. I was on that phone and I was like, I'm coming. Can you please see me? This morning it was the nurse and I burst out crying. It was like the dam broke. And I told her, and I said, can you please have the police come here? And she said, why? And I said, you'll know. You'll want to call the police when you see me, is what I said to her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At the er, they treated her baby immediately. She had double pneumonia, said the doctor, and would have died or suffered brain damage had Jane not called when she did. The cops were summoned to the hospital. They took Jane's statement, photographed her wounds and bruises, and collected the DNA on her garments. And then they swarmed the cottage to arrest Gombert. They cuffed him as he tried to slither off on his belly.

[Jane Gunderman]

He was literally on the ground like a snake, trying to get away from them. I said, perfect. Just, I. I couldn't believe it. And I laughed. I said, well, he is a snake. And they all just were like, yeah, you're right there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That day, February 29, 2000, was momentous for many reasons. For one, it took Gombert off of the streets and almost surely saved two lives, Jane's and the babies. For another, it compelled the Connecticut cops to do what the Putnam cops refused to build a criminal case against Gombert. When the cops searched the cottage, they found a trove of stolen goods hidden in the ceiling of Jane's garage, because that was Gombert's other nasty habit. He was a lifelong thief and burglar. Among those stolen goods were cameras and camcorders. He'd secretly been filming Jane and others for years. And then Jane pointed the cops to a suitcase he'd squirreled away. When they opened it, they found his collection of prize trophies. Nine pairs of worn but unwashed panties. Each was carefully wrapped and sealed in airtight plastic baggies. The Connecticut cops booked him for raping Jane. Months later, while Gombert was in jail awaiting trial, Sarah, who was eight then, was on a school bus going home and tortured by a memory that wouldn't die.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

I didn't know if I did something wrong. I didn't, you know, heck. But I think at that point, I felt safe enough because he couldn't hurt us anymore.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

On the bus, she was chatting with an older friend when suddenly it came pouring out.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

It was like I needed to tell someone, but I didn't know how to explain it because the words that I used were not adult words at all. It was. I explained it as his hot dog. So there were things that I was still little trying to describe to my best friend what happened to me. And she knew because she was maybe, like four years older than me, like she needed to tell someone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That friend got off the bus and marched Sarah straight home. There she pulled Sarah's mom aside and told her what Sarah had just told her. The cops were summoned. Sarah told them what Gombert had done to her. They promptly arrested Gombert in prison and charged him with the rape of a minor. And so the jury got to hear her story in full they gave Howard John Gombert Jr. The maximum of 30 years in a Connecticut prison.

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

Foreign.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint Story is better. Every plan $15 a month, even unlimited.

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

That's it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Happy ending, zero tears. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

taxes and fees Extra initial plan term

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

only greater than 50gb.

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

Me slow when network is busy. C terms Nix. That's Knix Leak proof underwear isn't just for one moment. It's for all the everyday moments you didn't realize leak proof underwear could make easier Maybe it's day one of your period. Maybe it's a long travel day. Maybe it's hot outside, you're on the move and you just want to feel fresh. Their leak proof underwear comes in a range of absorbencies from light to ultra and helps protect against periods, light leaks, sweat and everyday surprises. And because they look and feel like real underwear, they're soft, invisible underclothes and machine washable. No extra hassle, no complicated routine, just dependable protection you can wash and rewear. See why millions have made the switch to leak proof underwear? Visit nyx.com that's knix.com and use code flow15 for 15% off. That's kn I x.com code flo15 what's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'?

[Jane Gunderman]

All?

[Podcast Hosts (Sam J. and Ari Chambers)]

It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the hosts of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together. And I heart women's sports. Because, let's be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline, and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. We'll give you our takes, our debates, and probably a few disagreements. We'll talk to athletes, celebrate big moments, and get into what's happening on and off the field, sport track and beyond. Because we're not just interested in what happened, we're interested in why everyone's about talking talking about it because everyone watches women's sports. So if you're already a fan or you're just getting into the game, there's a seat for you right here. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Afterwards. Sarah grew up angry and alone, pushing away family and friends. When she graduated high school, she ran off and joined the army. But there she was assaulted by a fellow soldier and forced to take early discharge. For years, she struggled to get her bearings, veering from drugs to detox.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

I didn't understand until I was an adult how much it, like, chemically, like in my brain, chemically changed me, changed what I thought about love, what I thought love was supposed to be. It changed a lot for me and was almost like he killed a version of me that I can never get back.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But then, midway through her twenties, Sarah's luck turned. She found a trauma specialist at the VA and worked with her for years. She emerged from those sessions smarter and stronger and soon found her life's passion working with animals. She opened a dog grooming business and eventually bought herself a house. And somewhere in the thick of that, in 2011, she got a visit from a private eye. He was working for Anthony dipipo, he said, and taking a long, hard look at Howard Gombert, studying his most specific criminal MO and his history as a violent rapist of children.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

He told me about Anthony and Andy, and I couldn't not help knowing that something that happened so bad to me also affected so many other people. Yes, yes. And in such a different way. Like, Andy and Anthony went through something horrible that was awful for them. And I could only think, like, okay, well, this was really bad, both things, but helping them is good. So there had to be a silver lining for me. And they were the silver lining. The. The. The reason to, to rehash it was they don't deserve that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And so Sarah added her story to the one that Rachel told, and then three more women came forward and added theirs. Stacked together, those women told a meta story, the story of a man who for almost 20 years, had committed unspeakable crimes. Taken together, his reign of terror raised three very salient questions. First, why did those Putnam cops give a hall pass to Gombert, whom they knew to be a predator of children? Second, was one of his many crimes, the rape and murder of Josette Wright? And finally, how much more Gombert proof would it take to get a Putnam judge to free Anthony Di Pippo? One of Anthony's investigators was a man named Lou Morgan. Lou is tall and dapper and drives a top end Mercedes and can read you from across the room. He was an essential player in profiling Howard Gombert.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

Well, Anthony had a lot of information on potential other victims, so we went after them.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lou started piecing together Gombert's MO when he first heard Rachel's story. The elaborate rope knots he tied, the ritual degradations, the panties he used to gag her.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

Gombert had raped her and her mother.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lou knew there had to be other girls out there, girls Gombert attacked before Rachel. Alas, where sex crimes are concerned, especially against minors, it can be punishingly hard to track down victims. Their names are redacted in transcripts and news clips, and the court transcripts are often sealed. But Lou Morgan dug deep into Gombert's past and came up with the name of his first victim.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

And that's when we found out about a girl named Caruso.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That'd be Colleen caruso. She was 11 or 12 when she first met Gombert. He was 15 or 16 then and living in that tent in the woods. In fact, the first time she met him, he stepped out of those woods and smiled and said hi to her. She was flattered by an older boy's attention.

[Jane Gunderman]

It was exciting to me. He always used to have these things on a string. Nunchuck, Nunchucks, whatever they are. He always used to, like I remember, always just a swing. Yeah. Yeah. And I think what it was is he was trying to be the tough

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

guy, if you will.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lou found Colleen in 2014 and told her why he was asking about Gombert. He listed off Gombert's victims to her and named Josette as another likely victim. Colleen listened in horror, then told him her story about being bound and repeatedly raped in the woods, beginning at age 12 by Gombert. At 14, she turned him into the cops. She said he was convicted of assault and sent to prison, but wrote her constantly from his cell. He warned her. He had people watching her movements and threatened to kill her when he got out.

[Narrator/Interviewee Sarah]

I think I was his first prey

[Jane Gunderman]

to kind of start the realm of what he was trying to do. But I thank God all the time. I mean, for abundant amount of reasons, not only this, just every day that I was. I was spared, you know, me, because I think what he was doing was practicing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So now Anthony and his team had six of Gombert's victims. Five of them were willing to testify in court, and two, Rachel and her mother were Prepared to tell a jury about Gombert's pursuit of Josette. The sixth woman was Gombert's ex girlfriend, Ann Marie. She was a girl of 16 when he wooed her, then had a daughter by her. Anne Marie told Putnam cops that Gombert had raped and beat her for years. In early 95, she charged him with rape three months after Josette went missing. She also told those cops about Gombert. And Josette is offering her the babysitting job and giving her a ride in a little red and black car. With all those witnesses and proof of Gombert's M.O. anthony had a strong case for acquittal. But I'll remind you again, this is Putnam county, the same place a jury sentenced Anthony to life without a shred of physical evidence or a credible witness. And so once more, he'd have to go wrestle the bear, Persuade a Putnam judge to let all the facts speak. And not just the facts those Putnam cops contrived. In the spring of 2012, Anthony and his lawyers were in a courtroom in Carmel, New York. The occasion was a pretrial hearing to weigh the evidence his team had spent years collecting. But before the judge ruled, he wanted to hear from a key witness. That witness was Howard Gombert. Gombert was hauled in from Cheshire Correctional, where he was serving decades for sexually assaulting Sarah.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

They bring Howard Gombert in from Connecticut. He looked very white, like he ain't seen the yard. A vampire. His hair is, like, parted very close, so real tight to his head. He has this ponytail maybe 3ft long with these rubber bands going all the way down. And I don't know, it looks like a headache. It looks like he's walking around with just the worst headache. But, I mean, I don't really care how he feels. He's wearing this orange jumpsuit and he's got this. This big wooden cross.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The transcripts of the hearings run for more than a thousand pages. Gombert's testimony begins on where else? Page 666. Gombert pled the fifth on the stand. And not once or twice, but over and over and over, refusing to answer a single question. Still, watching him on the stand bolstered Anthony's sense that his motion would prevail. Surely no judge could look at Gombert than ignore the mountain of evidence against him. After the hearing, Anthony returned to the Putnam jail, as did Gombert before his return to Connecticut prison. They were put in separate vehicles, of course, but both pulled into the jailhouse garage at the same Time I screamed

[Anthony Di Pippo]

at him that day, I know all the guards heard it because I don't think I've ever yelled that loud at anybody. I was in a cop car and he was in the sheriff's truck. So he was higher up and I was lower. I'm like, you're a fucking pedophile, you fucking piece of shit. And I was just kind of like just going randomly with the worst words I could say. And he was handcuffed, but he picked his handcuffs up and he gave me two fingers through the window. I'm like, you motherfucker, I'm gonna get you one day, you cocksucker piece of shit. Better file. And he his handcuffs and he raised two middle fingers at me and he kind of laughed.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Those pre trial hearings went on for a month, in part because there was so much proof to weigh. But in the end, that judge named Barry Warhead barred Anthony for presenting his Gombert facts at trial. He blocked Santoro's notes about Gombert's confession, dismissing them as hearsay. And as for Gombert's victims, he deemed their testimony prejudicial. Why? Because the crimes against them were too close in nature to the crimes against Josette. They'd be his words, a distraction for the jury. And so in one fell swoop, all those years of work went poof. Anthony's jury would not be hearing of the crimes against Rachel and Sarah or against the other victims Anthony's investigators had turned up. Those women had relived their suffering for nothing. When the trial got underway, Anthony's lawyers did what little they could. They put on proof that the Putnam cops were corrupt, that they coerced and bullied witness after witness to lie. They pointed the lack of any evidence that a rape murder happened in that van. And they tore into the state's one direct eyewitness, the deeply flawed observer, Denise Rose.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

Regardless of how much we impeached her and we did a great job, she told the jury, I killed the girl.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And so, with the rest of his life hanging in the balance, Anthony decided to take the stand.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

At that point, I was just throwing piss and wind. I was pissed. And everybody said I testified horrible at that second trial because I was so angry. I was so beaten down.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Under cross examination, he denied any involvement in Josette's murder. But he was easily provoked by the prosecutor and came off sounding bitter and vengeful.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

I did so bad on a testimony that I even had people in my corner like, what the hell?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

By the time he left the deus, the verdict Felt academic.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

I was found guilty. Happiness and applause on the prosecution side. Sobs and weeping behind me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And so off he went to downstate again, then sent north to appeal pen up top. But several months after his second conviction, he got a call from his guy, Lou Morgan. Another girl had reached out with her story, and this one was a dead match for what had happened to Josette. Did Anthony have it in him to hear that story and to try one last time to clear his name?

[Anthony Di Pippo]

Lou got this call from this young woman who claims that she was a babysitter for Howard Gombert.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Her name was Amy Ferranda, and she, too had grown up in Carmel.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

Like, we weren't super close, but we smoked pot. I did a city trip with Amy. I would see her at raves.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As a teen, Amy was strikingly pretty, a tall, willowy blond with a bit of a wild streak. Now, as she spoke to Lou on the phone, she was a nurse in her middle 30s. She'd been following the news of Anthony's retrial on TV. But paralyzed by shame, she'd waited till after the verdict to come forward.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

She wasn't bubbly, you know, she wasn't enthusiastic. It sounded like she was embarrassed to

[Narrator/Interviewer]

tell me, but she insisted on telling him anyway.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

I believe I was raped by Howard Gombert. I said, well, how did you know that? She said, well, I know him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Amy said she was 17 when she babysat Gombert's daughter, the toddler he shared with Anne Marie. This was the summer of 1994, two months before Josette went missing. Gombra was always prying into Amy's love life, she said, hawking her to talk about boys. Once she let it slip to him that she sometimes snuck out to meet her boyfriend by the lake at 2am

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

Howard lived nearby, so it was easy for him to stake her out and follow her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

One night, after telling Gombert her secret, Amy snuck out of the house to meet her boyfriend. But on route there, she was set upon by a man with a knife. Her attacker wore a mask, but Amy spotted some telltale features. He had a cleft chin and dark blonde scruff on his face. She told Lou what she didn't tell police, that those features belonged to Howard Gombert.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

We were gonna meet, like, the next week, and then I kept on calling her, and she never answered.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

She came forward, and then she was, like, talking about suicide. And then two weeks later, we lost her.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

Oh, I. I felt. I felt so bad because I had a chance to. I should have dropped everything the Day she called me and went down and got a statement from her. It was terrible.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Anthony was gutted, actually worse than gutted. He felt personally cursed by God. But just when he thought he couldn't go on, couldn't bear to raise his hopes and see them dashed again. The death of Amy Feranda lit a charge. It was unbearable to him that Gombert had destroyed these lives, had so afflicted these girls that at least two of them were dead now. Anthony had to keep fighting for himself and for them. And so, on Anthony's instructions, his investigators kept digging. They found Amy's grieving sister and took a statement from her. She told them what Amy had told her in the days before her death, that her spirit had been ruined by that brutal rape and that she'd never been able to push past it. In the eyes of the law, that affidavit mattered. It served as Amy's dying declaration, allowing Anthony and his lawyers to obtain her case file.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

So in that file I got. Oh, my God. I got the sworn statement from Amy Ferrand at two pages, no lines in the middle, really tiny writing. So that's a lot of statement. And it gave us the signature MO of the crime scene, what I believe to be the signature MO of Howard Gombert, of what he's done to other people.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The details in that statement crystallized everything for Anthony. There was so much there that sounded familiar.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

All of a sudden, someone came up from behind her and put his hand over her mouth and he had a knife. And he said, don't scream or I'll kill you.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

He gets Amy, her hands tied behind her back with this clothesline type rope. He's using it as a leash. He's pushing her into people's backyards. He forces her to perform a sex act and then takes her underwear and puts it in her mouth. Then a bra was tied around her face. Amy's bra finishes doing the stuff and he taps the knife against her head. He says, if you say anything, remember this is waiting for you.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Those elements Amy described in her rape all but match the ones in Josette's case.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

It was very similar, very eerily similar to the mannerism in which Josette Wright was found. Because you have the rope, you have the panty gag, you have this knife. These are all the same instrumentalities that were found.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It bears saying that Josette, Amy looked alike, tall, blue eyed, young and blonde. And the details of their rapes were too distinctive and alike to be coincidence.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

To Anthony, identical rape victims, similar hair, similar eyes, similar Height. And another big thing is that Amy was Howard Gombert's babysitter. He, at that time this happened, she quit. And that was sort of quit. Amy quit.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

After the rape.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

After the rape. But it was sort of contemporaneous with when he started to entice Josette with the babysitting position. Because now he lost his babysitter the

[Narrator/Interviewer]

night Amy was raped and reported it to the cops. July 31, 1994. 64 days before Josette went missing.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

Now, you have the signature of Howard Gombert. It does. I mean, I would say like fourth graders could get it, maybe third, possibly second.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

After he raped her, Amy's attacker let her go. She ran back home, grabbed the keys to her mother's car, then drove to the nearest precinct.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

She drove to the Kent police station and informed them. And then the police took her to the hospital to do a rape examination.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The detective who took her statement was the aptly named Kevin Dushkoff. He bagged and tagged the semen stained clothing she'd been wearing during the attack. In the file with Amy's statement to Belize, Anthony found paperwork for tests they'd run on her clothing. Multiple samples showed positive for semen. Now, Anthony needed the samples themselves to have his investigators run the DNA and compare it to Howard Gombert's. But when his team sought the results from Amy's rape kit and clothing, the Ken PD flatly refused. Amy's rape was an open case, they claimed, though the case file showed they never really worked it in the first place. So Anthony's guys sued the Kent PD and won. But when they drove up to collect that evidence from the cops, they were told it had been thrown out. The rape kit named me. Semen, stained clothing, all of it had been tossed. In 1999, Anthony wasn't gutted. He was furious. Everywhere he looked, every rock he turned over seemed to yield fresh proof that the cops were shielding Gombert. First the sheriff's detectives, now the Kent pd. What on earth did Gombert have on all of them? And how many girls were raped and or killed after Amy reported her rape to Detective Douche cough.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

That's another evil. And then that allowed. If they had solved Amy, they would have put handcuffs on the man.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They would have. And.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

And they.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

If they had handcuffs on him. In September 94, when the district attorney learned about the rape kit,

[Narrator/Interviewer]

he would

[Anthony Di Pippo]

have been in jail.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yes, Gper would likely have been in jail in October of 94, when Josette Wright went missing. In the weeks and months after a second trial ended, Anthony went off a cliff emotionally. He'd reached that point where even the strongest stopped pushing and began working out their terms of surrender. But someone else, his stepdad, was furious for him and he refused to give up. Big Larry had a buddy who was a criminal lawyer. He asked him for the name of the best criminal attorney in New York. That friend connected him to a guy named Mark Baker. Baker was a post conviction legend in New York, a lawyer who'd walked multiple men out of prison after they'd been sentenced to life. Baker agreed to take Anthony's case and to bring aboard the best trial lawyer he knew, a Hail Mary magician named Marc Ac Nifolo.

[Investigator Lou Morgan]

So.

[Jane Gunderman]

So people says, well, what's your.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What's your like? Who do you market to? I'm like, I mark the people who are like if you're.

[Jane Gunderman]

I'm your.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Devil's Quarry is a production of Lava for Good in association with Rolling Stone Films and Signal Company Number One. I'm your creator and host, Paul Solotarov. Executive producers are Jason Flom, Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wardes and Gilbert King from Robert Rolling Stone Films. Our executive producers are Alexandra Dale and Sean Woods. Our producers are Kara Kornhaber, Hannah Beale, Jackie Pauley, Austin Smith and Kathleen Horn. Our editor is Joel Lovell. Fact checking by Lucy Croning. Our sound designer is Britt Spangler and our engineer is Austin Smith. Additional reporting by Kathleen Horan. Original music arranged and produced by Alexis Quadrado at the Plaza Rojas Studio head of marketing and operations, Jeff Clyburn. Publicist Nathaniel Baruch. Art director Andrew Nelson. Social media manager Sarah Gibbons. Legal review provided by Clarice Law and Gibson Dunn. Our theme song, the One who's Holding the Stars, is performed by Alexis Quadrado at the Plaza Rojas Studio. Vocals by Rob Reddy of Californicorns written by Leo Schofield and Kevin Herrick at the Florida Department of Corrections Hardy Correctional Facility.

[Anthony Di Pippo]

Sa.