I SURVIVED: I Couldn't Understand What Was Bringing My Neighbor To Do This To Me

Summary

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Cold Case Files: I Survived – "I Couldn't Understand What Was Bringing My Neighbor To Do This To Me"

Podcast: Cold Case Files (A&E / PodcastOne)
Host: Paula Barros
Air Date: November 1, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files, drawing on the compelling true-crime storytelling tradition of A&E, features harrowing firsthand survival stories. Three separate accounts are presented: Debbie, a hospice nurse kidnapped and assaulted by her neighbor after he murdered her husband; Christine and Heidi, two travelers who survived the deadly sinking of a Greek ferry; and Jim, who survived a brutal attack by his neighbor. Each narrative exposes the raw terror of confronting death, the resourcefulness required to survive, and the aftermath of trauma. The tone is grim but resilient, focusing on endurance in the face of evil and catastrophe.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Debbie: Kidnapping, Assault, and Survival (Millsboro, Delaware, 1998)

• Setting the Scene ([01:18])
  • Debbie is a hospice nurse planting rose bushes at home when she is abruptly attacked by an unseen assailant inside her house.
• Attack and Abduction ([01:35–03:40])
  • She is tied, dragged downstairs, and sexually assaulted. The attacker is searching for money, and she is left wondering about the safety of her husband, Nino.
  • Notable detail: Debbie pleads with her attacker, but he “laughed and just continued.” ([01:04])
• Further Assault and Realization ([03:45–08:49])
  • After further assaults, she's bundled into the trunk of a car, transported, and held captive in a strange house.
  • Over radio news, she hears her husband has been killed, and the kidnapper confesses–“I'm sorry I had to kill your husband.” ([08:08])
  • Debbie describes her calculated approach: giving her captor respect (“sir”), never pleading, always aiming to survive by outwitting him ([10:03]).
• Enduring Captivity and Survival Strategies ([08:49–14:04])
  • Debbie is repeatedly tied, gagged, raped, and kept in degrading conditions.
  • She notices her assailant’s lack of intelligence and adjusts her survival tactics: “Maybe, Debbie, you can get out of this. I wanted him to like me.” ([10:59])
  • Maintains composure for her children, even when she learns she’s a suspect in her husband’s murder.
• Escape ([14:04–16:31])
  • On the fifth day, after being left un-blindfolded with handcuffs instead of ropes, she seizes an opportunity to call 911.
  • Emotional 911 call: “This man kidnapped me, killed my husband.” ([15:56])
  • Police arrive within six minutes, freeing Debbie.
• Aftermath and Reflection ([17:30])
  • Perpetrator Donald Flagg receives multiple life sentences.
  • Notable quote: “I survived because I was a smarter person than my assailant... As time has gone on, I’ve actually considered [my scars] my badge of courage.” ([17:30])

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2. Christine & Heidi: The Express Samina Ferry Disaster (Greece, 2000)

• Before Disaster Strikes ([19:30–21:19])
  • Christine and Heidi travel through Greece, looking forward to relaxing on the islands.
  • Observations about the ferry’s apparent lack of oversight—“nobody’s driving the boat. I guess we’re on autopilot.” ([20:26])
• Collision and Chaos ([22:04–24:47])
  • The ferry slams into rocks two miles from Paros. There are no crew instructions; panic ensues.
  • “If I die, what didn’t I do? What didn’t I say? Every one of my family members came into my head, and I just said, I love you.” – Heidi ([24:04])
• Escape and Survival ([24:47–31:51])
  • Amid darkness and terror, they avoid the panicked crowd, find a lifeboat, and leap aboard as the ferry rapidly sinks.
  • Lifeboat malfunctions: Bench breaks, Heidi’s foot gets stuck, a hole in the boat.
  • “When this lifeboat hit the water, then I was scared. That’s the point where I really, really felt in fear of my life.” – Christine ([27:13])
  • They persist through fear, even rescuing another survivor despite warnings that “too many people” are on the boat ([30:42]).
  • Local fishing boats finally appear and rescue them.
• Aftermath ([32:10])
  • 82 passengers die. Ferry officers are convicted of negligence and manslaughter.
  • Heidi and Christine reflect on their reliance on each other: “We may have survived without each other, but I was stronger because Heidi was there.” – Christine ([32:43])

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3. Jim: Betrayal and Attack by a Neighbor (Rockford, Illinois, 2002)

• Unexpected Visitor Turns Attacker ([33:51–36:22])
  • Jim, returning home from the YMCA, invites neighbor Tom Roach up to talk.
  • After disquieting silence, Tom suddenly produces a utility knife and slashes Jim’s throat. “God told me to kill you.” – Tom Roach ([33:54])
  • Demands $200; Jim writes a check, but Tom becomes frustrated because of the blood on it.
• Fight to Survive ([36:22–38:39])
  • Jim attempts to defend himself, striking Tom with a teakettle to no effect.
  • At one point, after stating “I’m going to stand here and watch you die,” Tom surprisingly leaves upon being told, “You get out of here,” giving Jim a chance at survival ([38:18]).
  • Severely wounded, Jim writes down Tom Roach’s name before driving himself through near-blindness to the hospital.
• Emergency Response and Recovery ([39:22–40:26])
  • Security guard helps stem the bleeding outside the hospital.
  • Jim undergoes intensive surgery: “118 staples and 53 stitches...he missed my jugular vein by less than an inch.” ([40:10])
• Justice and Reflection ([40:26])
  • Tom Roach is sentenced to 25 years for attempted murder—also linked to the murder of another neighbor.
  • Doctors attribute Jim’s survival to his fitness: “I survived. This other man died.” ([40:37])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Debbie (on survival):
  “I survived because I was a smarter person than my assailant. Also because of my experience as a hospice nurse, I had the life experiences... befriending him and making him believe that I was someone who he could care about.” ([17:30])
• Debbie (on shame and dignity):
  “To have my husband’s murderer just washing my hair, it was horrible... I had to put his clothes on.” ([11:40])
• Heidi (on facing death):
  “If I die, what didn’t I do?... I just said, I love you.” ([24:04])
• Christine (on the lifeboat):
  “When this lifeboat hit the water, then I was scared. That’s the point where I really, really felt in fear of my life.” ([27:13])
• Heidi & Christine (teamwork):
  “We may have survived without each other, but I was stronger because Heidi was there.” – Christine ([32:43])
• Jim (awareness in trauma):
  “I couldn’t understand what was bringing my neighbor to do this to me.” ([36:25])
• Jim (miraculous survival):
  “In the slash across my throat, he missed my jugular vein by less than an inch.” ([40:10])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Debbie’s Ordeal: [01:18] – [17:30]
• Christine & Heidi’s Ferry Sinking Survival: [19:30] – [32:10]
• Jim’s Attack by His Neighbor: [33:51] – [40:26]

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Tone and Language

The storytelling is candid, direct, and harrowing, preserving each survivor's voice. Each speaker’s resilience and resourcefulness are foregrounded, even as they recount moments of extreme vulnerability and terror. The host provides context and connects the stories, but the survivors’ own words dominate, lending authenticity and impact to each narrative.

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Summary Takeaways

• The episode is a powerful exploration of what it takes to survive the unimaginable, from calculated psychological tactics and physical endurance to the importance of support—whether from within or from others.
• Across all three cases, survival comes down to split-second decisions, presence of mind, and—sometimes—sheer luck.
• The episode is emotionally intense, often graphic, but ultimately underscores the human capacity to endure, escape, and rebuild after trauma.

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

Hi, I Survived listeners, I'm Marissa Pinson, and before we get into this week's episode, I just want to remind you that episodes of I Survived, as well as the A E classic podcast, Cold Case Files, City Confidential, and American justice, are all available ad free on the new A and E crime and investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just 4.99amonth or 39.99 a year. And now onto the show. This episode contains subject matter that may be disturbing some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Debbie]

He said, you know, I've committed the perfect crime. They don't have any idea who I am, where you are. And he was proud of himself.

[Marissa Pinson]

Real people.

[Christine]

When this lifeboat hit the water, then I was scared. That's the point where I really, really felt in fear of my life who faced death.

[Jim]

And he said, God told me to kill you. And then he slashed my throat almost over and back ear to ear twice.

[Marissa Pinson]

And lived to tell how.

[Debbie]

But I found that when I pleaded with him to stop, he laughed and he just continued. So I learned early on that this is an evil man and that I had to just take it.

[Marissa Pinson]

This is I survived. It's April 1998, in Millsboro, Delaware. Debbie lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood, working as a hospice nurse.

[Debbie]

It was a spring day. I decided that I was going to plant rose bushes. When Nino arrived home, he parked the car and came over to me. And he was so pleased that I was planting the rose bushes because I'm really not a gardener. So he went on into the house. And then I said, hey, Nina, would you please call out to me about five or four so I can go in and call my nursing supervisor to get my assignment for the night. I sensed that it was getting very close to four and thinking nothing of it, I then, you know, brushed myself off, walked into the house, and all of a sudden, and I didn't see this person, but I was attacked viciously by someone striking me on the left side of my head. I fell to the ground. I was not knocked unconscious. However, I knew that someone was in my home demanding, where is your money? I. I was frozen. I could not believe this was happening. I was in shock. I had no idea where my husband was. And I was wondering, why isn't he coming to my rescue? But at the same time, I'm thinking, nino, help me. Nino, stay away. I don't want him to be involved in this. I was only on the ground for a few minutes because he then immediately started to tie. He bound my wrist, my ankles, and at that point, he moved me, kind of dragged me down probably 15 steps. And at the bottom of the steps, we have a concrete floor. And he threw me face down. While I was lying on the floor. He started to pull down. I had sweatpants on.

[Christine]

He started.

[Debbie]

He pulled my sweatpants down and my underwear. And then he raped me from behind.

[Marissa Pinson]

Debbie's attacker dragged her back upstairs and covered her with a quilt.

[Debbie]

And I remember thinking to myself, thank God it's over, because I heard the footsteps moving away from me. I heard the door close. And then, of course, my first thought is, where is Nina? All of a sudden, I'm being gathered up in the quilt. And now I'm looking up again, seeing this person. And he's not speaking to me, but he's carrying me into the foyer of our home, where I could see a car backed up to my front door. He held a knife to my throat, and he threatened me. He did not want me to scream.

[Marissa Pinson]

Debbie was bundled into the trunk of his car.

[Debbie]

When I heard the car moving, I thought to myself, debbie, the only way you will have any hope of surviving is to totally try and get the ties loosened. Because when he stops the car, what I had to do was to try and make a run for it. So I'm in the car. I'm loosening my ties with the plan of escaping. When he lifts the hatchback, I thought, okay, he's going to open that trunk, and I am going to do everything I can to kick and scream and run. It wasn't until he opened the hatchback, and I realized that I'm in a garage. I don't know where, but I'm trapped. And now he's carrying me, and the next thing I know, he's throwing me face down on a bed. He noticed that my hands were untied. He could tell that I was trying to escape. And so he punishes me again. He pulls my pants down again, and this time he sodomizes me. He then turns me over, rapes me vaginally. And I pleaded with him, but I found that when I pleaded with him to stop, he laughed, and he just continued. So I learned early on that this is an evil man and that I had to just take it. He was not a person that I could talk to. He was angry. And it appeared to me that he was under the influence of drugs. He took ropes and bound my wrists so I could not move them. He bound my ankles. He put ropes above my knees. And then he placed another tie from my wrist to my ankles. He Placed a washcloth in my mouth with duct tape going around my head. He blindfolded me and left. As the night went on, I heard two gunshots. And I did not know that he had a gun. He had held a knife to my throat. But this was when I learned that he had a gun. The next morning, he said to me, oh, my God. He said, I thought that the cops had found me. He explained to me that there were headlights that had shown into the front window, and he assumed that it was the police and shot. Two gunshots shattered the front window, and all he could think about was, I don't want the neighbors to see. And he went into another room and turned on either the television or the radio. I did hear, and I get goosebumps. But we're now on the second day, Tuesday, and I heard an announcer say that Anthony Puglisi had been shot and killed and his wife is missing. And as I was trying to even absorb the fact that my husband is dead, because it hadn't even occurred to me that this murder had happened, the door opens, and my husband's murderer opened the door and said, I'm sorry I had to kill your husband. Shut the door and left it to me to have a person do what he did to me to learn that he had shot my husband. Now I'm convinced that I'm next. I knew that I could not cry, even though the tears weren't coming. If I were to be a blubbering person, this evil man would hurt me more. So I held my emotions in. And it wasn't long afterwards that he opens the door. He comes in, he releases my ankle ties so that he can rape me yet again. Immediately afterwards, he replaced the washcloth in my mouth with duct tape, blindfolded me, retied me, and said to me, I really should go to work.

[Marissa Pinson]

Debbie had two kids in college.

[Debbie]

While he was gone. All I want to do is get back to my children. I knew that they had to be agonizing. Number one, they're grieving for their father. They're wondering about mom, and my heart was bleeding. I can't even describe as a mother how I felt. And all of my thoughts were with them as the night went on. And I'm wondering what to expect when this person returns. The door opens, and he did something out of character. He took my ties off. He removed my blindfold. He took the washcloth out of my mouth, turned the light on. And at first, of course, I'm stunned because I really hadn't seen light. So he Started to talk to me like a person. And he said to me, I'm thinking about letting you go, but I'm afraid to let you go, because if I do, you'll be able to describe the house to the police. And I said, no, sir. And this is when I started calling him sir. So I said, sir, you put me in the trunk of your car. I had no idea where you were taking me. I can't describe the outside of your home, the area where you brought me. And I offered him a suggestion. I said, why don't you just blindfold me again, put me back in the trunk of your car and just drive off and leave me. And he said, I can't do it. And of course, hearing that was so discouraging. But. But what he said to me was, you'll be able to describe my flocked wallpaper in the dining room. And then he made a statement that didn't make sense. He said, you know, if I get rid of all the drugs in the house and the police do find me, then I won't get more than 10 years. And kind of bells went off and I'm thinking, I'm not dealing with an intelligent person here, because if he thinks he's going to get 10 years for murder, for kidnapping, for rape, then he's not a bright person. And I kind of switched to survival mode. I allowed myself to think, maybe you can. Maybe, Debbie, you can get out of this. I wanted him to like me. I would always refer to him as sir. I tried to show him respect. I tried to let him know that I would be a good girl, that I wouldn't try to escape. I would give him time to reconsider letting me go.

[Marissa Pinson]

That night, Debbie's kidnapper did not gag and blindfold her.

[Debbie]

He put me on a king sized bed that I assumed was the bed that he sleeps in and laid down next to me, and I had to sleep next to Nino's murderer. On Wednesday morning, he took my ties off and he said, I would like you to take a shower. But of course, by, you know, Wednesday morning, I've been in these clothes, I've urinated in these clothes. And I mean, this is again, dehumanizing. So I told him, I said, I'm too weak to stand in the shower. Is it okay that I take a bath? He made me undress in front of him, and I got into the bathtub and I was so weak, but I washed my body the best I could. And then he said to me, aren't you going to wash Your hair. And I said, sir, I said, my wrists are so sore that it was difficult for me to raise my arms to do that. Well, he washed my hair. And to have my husband's murderer just washing my hair, it was horrible. It was just horrible. And then when I got out of the tub, I had to put his clothes on. I had to put his sweatpants, his T shirt, because, of course, my clothes were destroyed. So now I'm cleaned up, and he rapes me again. On Thursday morning, he got up and he surprised me by saying he wanted to feed me. I said, you know, why don't you, while you're out getting the food, buy a newspaper so we can see what's going on? And he agreed. So we ate, and I was careful about how I talked to him, but he showed me the newspaper. The newspaper said it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. They had no clues, which was, of course, very upsetting to me, but I didn't want to let it show. And when he read it, he said, you know, I've committed the perfect crime. They don't have any idea who I am, where you are. And he was proud of himself. And also in this article, it mentioned that I was a suspect. They had suspected me of killing my husband and running off.

[Marissa Pinson]

On the fifth day, Debbie's wrists are sore and swollen, so her kidnapper replaces the ropes with. With handcuffs.

[Debbie]

He didn't blindfold me. He did put the washcloth in my mouth with the duct tape and told me he was going to work. And my gut said, because of the type of person he is, and because this is different, he might not believe that I wouldn't try to escape. So I decided to wait about an hour because he made a point of saying, I'm leaving now. And the door shuts. So I'm on the bed lying, trying to lie very patiently. And it was about an hour. And I heard the door open just slightly and the door shut. And I thought, okay, I've passed the test, Debbie. Now you have to make a decision. You have to try and get out of this. So I shuffled, and I don't know how, but with my hands cuffed behind my back, I opened the door, not knowing if he would be on the other side. I went through the door into the hallway. The house is totally dark. And I knew from being able to walk around the house that his dining room was to the left. So I shuffled, and again, God was with me. On the dining room table was a phone, a cordless phone with My hands behind my back. I can't explain it, but I picked up the phone, and as a hospice nurse, I was very familiar with using the phone a lot. I knew where the 911 was, and I actually punched 911.

[Jim]

Police for an ambulance.

[Heidi]

Please help me Debut. Please help me.

[Jim]

Okay. What's wrong with him?

[Debbie]

This man kidnapped me, killed my husband.

[Jim]

Where are you now?

[Debbie]

I'm in his home. I have handcuffs on my hands and on my feet. Oh, Lord have mercy. Oh, my God.

[Heidi]

I want my children.

[Jim]

So he was 96. And where is he now? Yes, where is the man now?

[Debbie]

He's at work, I think. But he might come back.

[Jim]

You're there? You're there alone now?

[Debbie]

Yeah, but he might get here before you.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police traced the call and arrived at the scene in less than six minutes.

[Jim]

If you hear something, that'll be one of the officers. Yes, ma', am, we have an officer. Okay, man, just. Just stay calm, man.

[Heidi]

Just stay calm.

[Jim]

He knows you're there.

[Debbie]

All of the emotions that I had suppressed through the week just came. I lost it.

[Marissa Pinson]

Debbie's abductor, Donald Flagg, was sentenced to eight life sentences, plus 166 years. Each year, on the anniversary of her ordeal, he spends five days in solitary confinement.

[Debbie]

I survived because I was a smarter person than my assailant. Also because of my experience as a hospice nurse, I had the life experiences. I had just the ability to be able to befriend him and make him believe that I was someone who he could care about. And I am left with some scars on my wrist from the ropes. But as time has gone on, I've actually considered them my badge of courage.

[Heidi]

Foreign.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Christine]

We traveled in Israel for a couple of weeks and then down to Egypt. And our treat was we survived the Middle East. We're gonna go to Greece, find a beach, get some ouzo and not leave for a week. That was the plan.

[Heidi]

We spent about two days in Athens and then we were gonna go out to the islands for anywhere up to the whole remainder of the trip for five days.

[Marissa Pinson]

At 5pm they boarded the ferry Express Samina for the five hour trip to the island of Paros.

[Heidi]

When we first got on the ferry, it was just a beautiful day and we were walking around and checking it out and you know, here, this is my dream since I was a kid to take the ferries in Greece.

[Christine]

In my mind, it wasn't specifically a safety check, but that is how it evolved to. It was us looking around. Oh, look, there's the lifeboat. Look at the propeller of the lifeboat. It's very small. It's not even as big as a dinner plate. Hope we don't need to take that.

[Heidi]

Anna, she looked at me and said, well, it's a good thing there's no icebergs. So that just kind of set, you know, I didn't know at the time, but it really set the tone for later on. We left about 5 o' clock and walked up to the front of the ferry and there's a guardrail, but you can look in and see the area where all the control panel is and the captain is supposed to be. And there was nobody up there. And I looked at Christine and said, you know, nobody's driving the boat. I guess we're on autopilot.

[Marissa Pinson]

The captain was asleep in his cabin and the crew were watching soccer on tv.

[Christine]

There were a lot of people where we were at the beginning of the trip when we were on the top level of the boat and I didn't see anybody inside because I didn't think I was supposed to be inside. And it was a nice day so we just stayed outside.

[Heidi]

I had this thought in my head that because Christine and I had purchased the these less expensive third class tickets that we couldn't go inside.

[Marissa Pinson]

There were 540 people on the ferry.

[Heidi]

That day, probably about six or seven, really. The wind started picking up. It was incredibly strong winds. You almost couldn't walk from place to place. So we just curled up and I started to get a little seasick. I tend to in strong waves. So I decided probably about 9 o' clock that I was either going to be sick or I was going to take a nap. So I curled up in all my clothes and hunkered down and drifted off to sleep.

[Marissa Pinson]

At 10:15pm the ferry was just two miles from the island of Paros.

[Christine]

Then I heard the engines change. And that's what made me look up from my book and I saw that there were. I saw the lights and I assumed we would be docking soon. So I put my bookmark in my book and I stood up.

[Heidi]

She said, you better get up and get your backpack. So I started to get up and stand up and I was still a little groggy and looking at Christine. And then we see this big, huge rock come out of nowhere.

[Christine]

It filled my vision. I was watching this rock that was taller than the boat I was on, and it was crushing down the side, scraping with this. I'll never forget the sound. It was horrific.

[Heidi]

And the rocks, when they hit, we could have reached out and touched them.

[Christine]

And it was amazing.

[Heidi]

If I would have walked five steps forward, I could have touched these rocks.

[Christine]

I was dumbstruck.

[Heidi]

I knew instantly that the ship was going to sink.

[Christine]

And we looked at each other and Heidi says, we're going down.

[Heidi]

And she looked at me and said, well, it took the Titanic four hours to sink. And I said, we don't have four hours. This boat's going to go down fast. Pretty much as soon as we hit the rocks, I just had this immense rush of adrenaline and my heart was racing and I had butterflies and I was terrified. I mean, I Immediately, my thoughts were, the ferry's going to sink. We're going to be out in the water. What's going to happen to us? Who's going to come save us? Does anybody know what's going on?

[Christine]

I never saw any crew. I never heard any instructions in Greek or otherwise. And people were asking us what to do.

[Heidi]

Fairly immediately, the boat started to take on water and the whole boat started to roll to the right side.

[Christine]

At this point, the lights start to flicker on and off and everybody starts to panic.

[Heidi]

When I could hear people start screaming and running, it just sunk in even more. And at one point I just. I kind of stopped and thought to myself, you know, if I die, what Didn't I do what Didn't I say? And I. Every one of my family members came into my head, and I just said, I love you.

[Christine]

Somebody set up a flare. And that made the scene look almost like a carnival for me. It was so strange.

[Heidi]

There was a large amount of people now starting to accumulate at the back of the ship, and people were screaming, and you could just tell that there was a lot of people all in one area. There was absolute panic.

[Marissa Pinson]

The crew was abandoning ship.

[Heidi]

People started running up the stairs, and there was some men, a group of five men that came running past me, going towards the rear of the ship, and they kind of knocked into me, and I fell and I hit my head. And I hit my head pretty hard on the railing, and I started to black out. And I was like, oh, no. If I black out, Christine's not. I was thinking, christine's not going to be able to drag my body to shore from here. You know, I have to stay with it. I have to breathe. And I just thought back to my yoga teacher and how to breathe. And I. I told Christine, I'm like, they're going to kill us. There's these people. They're running, they're pushing, they're shoving. I'm still dealing with the fact that I'm trying not to black out. I was like. I looked at her and I said, they're going to kill us.

[Christine]

I'm looking at the people, and I'm thinking, I don't speak Greek. These people are panicking. I don't want to follow them, because if I follow this crowd of panicked people, any information that they receive, by the time it gets to me, it'll be useless. And I pushed her up towards the front of the boat, which was the highest part of the boat. The boat. The part of the boat that was farthest away from the water. It was not where the exit was. It's not where the people were going. That's all that mattered to me. There's no light there. It's completely dark. And we have to hold onto the railing because the boat is tilting at such a severe degree that if we would let go, we'd slide right into the water.

[Marissa Pinson]

They were 60ft above the water.

[Heidi]

I'm scared to death of the dark. I mean, that's one of my biggest fears, is just darkness. Dark water in particular really scares me. So I thought, you know, if I have to swim in this, I'm gonna be absolutely petrified. But if I have to do it, I'll fight like hell.

[Christine]

And Heidi Turns around and says, nobody's there. And I look over her shoulder, and there's a little old man waving us on. Come on. And I push her. I said, go.

[Heidi]

And I look out, and there's a lifeboat hanging out on the side of the ship, but it's been put out, and they're starting to lower it down. And there's like 5ft gap between the lifeboat and the ferry. And I okay, great. Now I have to jump into this lifeboat. And so we just kind of looked at each other and jumped.

[Christine]

When this lifeboat hit the water, then I was scared. That's the point where I really, really felt in fear of my life. The waves were so big, and when the lifeboat hit the water, it fell apart.

[Heidi]

The bench that I was sitting on broke, and my foot was underneath it, and we fell forward. We kind of. There was still half of the bench, but half of it had broken, and my foot was pinned. And then my other foot went through the bottom of the boat. And so it was in a hole, which I was able to pull out, but there was this hole I kept sticking my foot in.

[Christine]

Heidi told me that she put her foot through the bottom of the boat. I couldn't even process that information at that point. I had to not think about that, that this boat was going to sink now.

[Heidi]

So there's this barnacled, rusty, metal bottom of the ferry, and our lifeboat's being thrown against it. And these were big, big waves. So we're not just bumping into it. We're being thrown up onto the bottom of the ferry and then rolling back down it and hitting the water. And just as soon as we hit the water, we get thrown back up on the ferry again.

[Marissa Pinson]

The ferry Sank in just 40 minutes.

[Heidi]

Some people towards the end had tried to make it up to the front of the ferry. And as it sank, the rear of the boat went down a lot faster, and the front had raised up, and so people slid down. The decks were stuck in the railings, and it was a pretty horrible sight.

[Christine]

One man behind me leaned forward and showed me how to turn a light on that was hanging from my life vest. And he told me, now you show everybody else.

[Heidi]

Over the next few minutes, we started seeing these strobe lights flickering all through the water. And you could see that there was a large amount of people. There was hundreds of people that had gone off on the back and the lower side of the ferry, and they were all swimming. We were probably 600ft at least, away from these people, and the waves were crashing, and I was Terrified. I was. I mean, I couldn't speak. I was so scared, I could not speak. I mean, these waves, even in our lifeboat, it was. It was almost impossible to keep your head above water. And, I mean, I was exhausted.

[Christine]

So I thought, what can I do to help the situation? And I just was saying, don't tip the boat over. Don't rock the boat. Don't tip the boat over. And, well, that evolved into me singing rock the boat. And that kept me there. It kept me positive.

[Heidi]

I could see that there was, you know, there was maybe one or two other lifeboats. I didn't know if anybody was in them. I could just see these strobe lights in the water. There was these people were all, you know, just swimming, and there was nobody. There was nobody out there. There was nobody helping. And then I was on the edge of the boat, and I saw someone swimming towards us. And so we have to get him. We have to get this man. There's somebody in the water. And I reached out and I grabbed him, and I'm holding his arm, and I can't. You know, it's. I'm not able to pull him out of the water. I mean, my foot is still stuck. I'm twisted in the boat. I've got his arm.

[Christine]

But in Greek, we heard, no, no, no, no, no. And in very broken English, we heard, too many people on the boat now. And Heidi said, I'm not letting go. And I yelled, she's not letting go.

[Heidi]

I mean, I had this man's hand, and that was, you know, if I had to just hold onto his hand and tell somebody came and saved us, that's what I was gonna do. Luckily, we were able to pull him in the boat. I just started saying over and over in my head, you know, please let them be okay. Just save them. You know, there's hundreds of people, and they're too far away. We can't get to them. And I don't know if help's coming. We don't know what's going on. And at that point, a light shined on us, and there was a fishing boat. And it was the best thing ever. I believe there was three fishing boats and all came up, and they got one in front of us and two behind us, and they just escorted us to shore.

[Christine]

Seeing the fishing boats really made me feel confident that we were going to see the sunrise.

[Heidi]

And when we finally made it, we were probably 100ft away from shore. And I looked up, and the traditional white with the blue domed church is right there on shore. And I just. I finally thought, that's it. We made it. We're gonna be okay. We're here. We're alive.

[Marissa Pinson]

82 passengers died in the sinking of the Ferry Express. Samina. The captain and the first mate were found guilty of criminal negligence and serial manslaughter. They were sentenced to 16 and 19 years, respectively.

[Heidi]

Christina and I are always. We've always been kind of opposites. What I don't think of, she does. I might react one way, and she's the opposite. And so, I mean, there was moments where, you know, like being terrified in the lifeboat and then she's singing a song, just. We complement each other very well.

[Christine]

We may have survived without each other, but I was stronger because Heidi was there.

[Heidi]

What if the stories of gods, angels.

[Jim]

And ancient technology weren't myths, but memories of alien contact? On Ancient Aliens, we investigate the evidence.

[Heidi]

From mysterious ruins to strange celestial alignments.

[Jim]

Asking bold questions about humanity's origins. Could visitors from the stars have immortalized.

[Heidi]

Influenced our greatest civilizations?

[Jim]

Journey into the unknown and challenge what.

[Heidi]

You think you know about history? In episodes like Secrets of the Sumerians, Mysteries of the Mayo, or the Chosen, we are not alone. Download Ancient Aliens every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's February 2002 in Rockford, Illinois. Jim has just finished his workout at the local YMCA and is walking home to his apartment.

[Jim]

I tried to exercise six days a week. It was a Saturday morning and I was coming home from the Y. My neighbor Tom caught up with me on the sidewalk and he said, I need to talk to you about some things. And I thought, well, seeing as how it's February winter, little chilly, rather than to talk outside, come on upstairs. He is 20 years younger than me, so he at the time was 34. So I brought him upstairs and when he got up there, he looked at a number of pictures on my wall, blow ups of vacation pictures. And he said, what are these? And I explained them to them one by one. And then it was kind of odd he didn't say anything. And I thought that's kind of strange because his reason for coming up here was to talk to me about something. He's not talking. Something's wrong. For a few more seconds, he stood there and did nothing. And then I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he reached into his coat pocket and he pulled out a utility knife. He snipped my phone card and then slammed me up against the wall with his arm under my chin. And he said, God told me to kill you. And then he put his arm under my chin and slammed me up against the wall. And then he jerked his arm a few times till my nose was pointed straight up in the air and the skin on my neck was pretty tight. And then he slashed my throat almost over and back, ear to ear. Twice. He said during the attack, today's the day you die. And then a little later, he said, I'm going to stand here and watch you die. After he did this, of course, suddenly I was bleeding very profusely, and I. My thought was, tom, what are you doing? That was the only thing that I could think of to say. He said, I need $200. I said, Tom, I don't carry $200 with me. Well, you have a checkbook. He said, right? Yes. Go get it. So I went and got the checkbook. I wrote the check for $200, brought it out to him. He looked at it, and he goes, oh, man, you got blood all over it. He knew he wouldn't be able to cash it. He didn't get angry. It was that same demeanor that I had seen with him before. No smiles, real serious. It was just, this is what I need to do today.

[Marissa Pinson]

Tom was a crack cocaine addict.

[Jim]

I had my arms out like this, and my hand drifted across the teakettle on my stove. I picked that up and hit him as hard as I could, right about in here. He never even flinched. He never felt it. At this point, I was wondering, what is wrong with this guy? He should be out cold. I don't remember feeling angry toward him. I remember feeling very confused. I couldn't understand what was bringing my neighbor to do this to me. I had really covered the floor with my blood, and I, at one point, slipped in my own blood on the linoleum floor and fell on my hands and knees. And that's when he took the knife and slashed down in the lower part of my back and across my left kidney. The one on my back was the one that I really remember as hurting. The others were so sharp that it was like shock. But that one I really remembered. And I kind of yelled out when he did that one. He had just told me maybe less than a minute before, I'm going to stand here and watch you die. And it was like I heard myself saying, you get out of here. And without another word, this guy that had just told me he was going to watch me die very quietly walked down the steps and out the door, and I was amazed. I thought, you know, I might be living through this after all. When I heard the door shut, I got up and thought, what do I do now? I can't call the hospital because he snipped my phone card. I don't have a cell phone. Guess I'll have to drive to the hospital. The thought popped into my head. I need to let the police know who this is that did this to me so that in case they find me dead, they'll know who to arrest. My intention was to write Tom Roach did this. But when I got done writing Tom Roach, I was starting to feel woozy. So I thought I'd better just leave it and get to the car as quick as I can.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jim's car was parked outside on the street.

[Jim]

So I leaned against the wall and kind of stumbled down the steps and out to my car. I was wondering where Tom was. Was he going to run up beside me, throw the door open? I didn't know. I didn't have any idea where he was. During the attack, my glasses had been knocked off, so my vision was bad anyway. But it was made much worse, I guess because of the significant amount of blood I had lost. I could not see the stoplight. It was like I was driving through a very thick fog.

[Marissa Pinson]

The light was red.

[Jim]

Finally, I honestly thought that I saw the light change to green. So I drove across and ended up in the circle Drive of the hospital. At that time of the morning on Saturday, the door is locked. But the amazing thing was a security guard jumped out of his van and said, hey, you can't park there. When I got out of the car, he saw my blood soaked shirt. And that's when I said, can you help me? And he leaned me over the hood of my car and applied pressure to a gusher in my neck.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jim had extensive surgery and remained in intensive care for four days.

[Jim]

I ended up with 118 staples and 53 stitches. I was later told by a doctor friend that in the slash across my throat, he missed my jugular vein by less than an inch.

[Marissa Pinson]

Tom Roach was sentenced to 25 years for attempted murder. Police discovered that Roach also murdered another neighbor. In 1999, the same thing happened.

[Jim]

He attacked him, demanded money. The thing is, I survived. This other man died. The doctors gave my level of fitness, probably from being a member of the Y and using it five or six times a week for having a very good heart, which kept me conscious long enough to get to the hospital. Otherwise I probably would have passed out and bled to death. This October, Fear is free on Pluto tv with horror movie collections from Paranormal Activity.

[Heidi]

The Ring will die in seven days.

[Jim]

Scream and from dusk till dawn. This is my kind of place. And don't miss the man made nightmares in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Or the world ending chaos in 28 Days Later. Something in the blood, all the scares, all for free. Pluto TV Stream now pay never.

[Heidi]

Hey, this is Sarah.

[Debbie]

Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m.

[Heidi]

Right now and well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheerful. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell.

[Jim]

Oatmeal.

[Heidi]

So long, you strange soggy.

[Jim]

Break up with bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with cage free eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. AM P? M Too much good stuff.