I SURVIVED: The Doctor Said You've Been Stabbed 14 Times

Summary

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Cold Case Files: "I SURVIVED: The Doctor Said You’ve Been Stabbed 14 Times"

Host: Paula Barros
Date: November 29, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files presents gripping, firsthand survivor accounts of three life-threatening attacks—an abduction and sexual assault, an industrial accident, and a brutal stabbing by a trusted acquaintance. Each story centers on the moment of crisis, the victim's fight to live, and ultimately, hard-won justice or healing. The episode weaves together interviews and narration with an unflinching tone that’s at times raw, matter-of-fact, and deeply personal.

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Key Stories & Discussion Points

1. Angela: Abducted from a Mall Parking Lot (Chicago, 1996)

• Set-up:
  Angela, 17 and freshly graduated, is grabbed at knifepoint after her mall shift. Despite initial embarrassment at being seen singing, she’s quickly thrust into terror as a "creepy" stranger restrains and kidnaps her.
• Details of Abduction:
  The assailant’s chilling method—blindfolding Angela with bandages and sunglasses, binding her wrists with zip ties—signals prior experience. Angela’s internal alarms are blaring:

  “He was so practiced. I knew that he had done this before.” (03:56)

• Desperate Observations:
  Mentally cataloging details about her captor and the car, Angela clings to the hope of bringing him to justice.

  “If I get out of this situation alive, he’s not getting away with it.” (13:21)

• Attack & Escape:
  Driven to a remote forest at knifepoint, Angela is coerced to undress and wear a satin gown:

  “To feel all you were there for was just a thing, an object, was traumatizing.” (23:13) After a sexual assault, he drops her at another parking lot and orders her to count to 100.

• Aftermath and Justice:
  Angela struggles to convince police, facing skepticism and victim-blaming:

  “Are you lying? ... Sometimes girls get themselves into situations.” (30:18) Her persistence leads to two dedicated detectives, a composite sketch, and the arrest of Robert Capo—already a convicted killer.

• Trial and Empowerment:

  “It took four years for my case to come to trial... but I wouldn’t take the experience back.” (39:06) Capo is convicted and sentenced to life. Angela attributes her survival to listening to her instincts. “We can’t choose what happens... but we can choose our response. I survived because I listened to my instincts.” (39:40)

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2. Pat: Trapped in a Combine Harvester (Auburn, NY, 2010)

• The Accident:
  Pat, a seasoned farmer, ignores protocol in his haste to fix a combine. While reaching past a running shaft to remove a safety lock, his hand and coveralls are caught.
• Fight for Survival:
  Pat’s horrifying situation grows dire as the machine tightens around him, burning and crushing his flesh.

  “The only way you’re gonna get loose is to rip your hand off. And I go, I don’t know if I can do that.” (14:00)

• Self-Amputation and Escape:
  With excruciating effort, he tears his own hand free, but remains entangled by his clothes:

  “All I had left... was two bones that used to hold my hand. And I see my half hand flying around on this shaft...” (19:48) Miraculously, he stops the machinery by burning off a belt, extricates himself, and staggers for help.

• Rescue and Recovery:
  Pat’s cousin, a fire chief, is stunned by his appearance—bloodied and half-naked. Medics airlift Pat to the hospital, where surgeons cannot reattach his hand.
  • Notable quote on resilience and luck:

    “Whatever I got, I’m happy with. I’m happy to be alive. I survived because I’m not ready to go yet.” (37:40)

  • On supernatural intervention:

    “They say you have guardian angels. I think I have a few watching over me.” (38:06)

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3. Tricia: Stabbed by a Friend (Houston, 1991)

• Betrayal:
  At age 14, Tricia is ambushed at home by Steven, a familiar face. After odd behavior—including self-harm with a knife—he attacks her suddenly and brutally.

• Violence and Survival:
  Tricia’s ordeal is relentless: stabbed repeatedly, she endures her throat being slit as she desperately tries to call 911:

  “He went from guilt ‘I’m sorry’ look to ‘I’m gonna kill you.’” (15:49) “He just, repeatedly, just came after me over and over again.” (16:45) Grabbing the blade, she severs tendons in her fingers; at various points, she blacks out from blood loss.

• Escape and Rescue:
  Semi-conscious, Tricia drags herself toward her front door and collapses outside, where neighbors summon help.

  “My white nightgown is now red... I reached up with my hand and put it into my neck and my hand was inside my neck...” (27:22)

• Medical Miracles & Aftermath:
  She is airlifted for open heart surgery:

  “The doctor said you’d been stabbed 14 times in all, and we did eight-hour open heart surgery on you to repair your heart.” (34:18) Her attacker flees—living under a new identity for over a decade. He is ultimately caught and confesses.

• Relief and Ongoing Struggle:

  “I’m so relieved... to know that I don’t have to fear... that there’s going to be bars between him and I.” (35:33)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Angela, on abduction realization:

  “It’s not your money that I want. And that line made me realize that this was a very serious situation.” (02:56)

• Angela, on the assault:

  “He dressed me up just like a doll… Am I going to be raped? Am I going to be killed? Is this it?” (18:59 – 19:25) “He wipes the tears off my face with the same handkerchief he used to clean himself… that was just so repulsive.” (23:20)

• Pat, reflecting on survival:

  “You have guardian angels. I think I have a few of them watching over me.” (38:06)

• Tricia, after surviving:

  “I looked up and he was standing on top of me. He proceeded to kick me in my stomach and he kicked me in my head and I passed out.” (22:47) “He wasn’t anybody that I knew. And he was out there.” (34:49)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:39 –Angela’s abduction begins
• 04:50 – Pat’s combine accident starts
• 07:28 – Tricia’s attack begins
• 11:28 – Angela details being abducted, cataloguing facts
• 14:06 – Pat’s hand is pulled into the combine
• 15:47 – Tricia is repeatedly stabbed
• 17:34 – Angela driven into the forest, coerced to wear gown
• 19:48 – Pat self-amputates to escape combine
• 21:48 – Tricia’s throat is slit while dialing 911
• 23:08 – Angela assaulted in the car
• 30:14 – Angela dismissed by initial detectives
• 35:33 – Tricia expresses relief at attacker’s arrest
• 37:40 – Pat on surviving and gratitude
• 38:53 – Angela’s case leads to arrest and conviction
• 39:40 – Angela’s note on survival and instinct

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Episode Tone & Style

The survivors and narrators speak directly, often graphically but always earnestly, inviting listeners into their terror and resilience. The episode never sensationalizes, instead focusing on the process of survival, the psychological toll, and the slow, uncertain journey toward justice and recovery.

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Conclusion

“I Survived: The Doctor Said You’ve Been Stabbed 14 Times” offers three unforgettable survival stories—each unique in circumstance but sharing threads of trauma, resourcefulness, and determination. Whether fighting a machine, an attacker, or disbelief, each survivor ultimately finds a way through, and—despite devastating wounds—reclaims some measure of power over what’s happened to them. The episode’s blend of raw narrative and procedural detail gives listeners both emotional impact and insight into how cold cases—and cold survival stories—move from horror to resolution.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

This episode contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Angela]

I saw this shadow come up behind me and he grabbed me from behind and he put a knife pressing at my throat.

[Pat]

Real people, the more I pulled, it felt like the tighter it was getting on me. The only way you're gonna get loose is to rip your hand off. And. And I go, I don't know if I can do that.

[Narrator]

Who faced death?

[Tricia]

He went from guilt I'm sorry look to I'm gonna kill you and live.

[Angela]

To tell how what's gonna happen? Am I gonna be raped? Am I gonna be killed? Is this, is this it?

[Narrator]

This is I survived. It's July 1996 in Chicago, Illinois. Angela had just finished high school and was preparing for College.

[Angela]

I was 17 years old and I had just graduated from high school my senior year of high school. I was a homecoming queen. It was such a great life to feel like your whole world is in front of you. I was getting ready to go away to college in the fall and I was working at a shopping mall to pay for my upcoming college expenses. It was 6:30 on a Saturday evening and I had gotten off of work early to go to a graduation party. So I was leaving my job and I was walking across the parking lot and I love music. I was carrying a CD in my hand and I was singing out loud to myself and nobody was around until I stopped in my tracks and this fleeting chill ran up my spine and I turn around and there's a guy following me about 10ft behind this maybe 50 year old white man wearing a gray T shirt, green work pants, thick glasses, messed up hair. He definitely had that creepy vibe about him. All of my internal alarms were going off, but I actually just felt embarrassed that this person had heard me singing. And I could feel my cheeks turn bright red and I didn't think anything of it. I walked to my car, I put the key into the lock and then all of a sudden, I saw this shadow come up behind me, and he grabbed me from behind and he put a knife pressing at my throat. I thought that this was just a robbery at first, so I did glance around. My eyes were darting around the parking lot. Nobody was around, so there was no one to scream to. And with this knife at your throat, you just. You don't know what to do. Your whole body just freezes in fear. I offered him any money in my wallet. I said, take my wallet. Take whatever you want. And he said, it's not your money that I want. And that line made me realize that this was a very serious situation. He tried to force me into my car, but the council that separated the passenger and the driver's seat, he wasn't able to get me over the seat. So he said, this isn't going to work, he muttered. And so he grabbed me out of the car, still with the knife to my throat, and forced me into his car, which was parked just feet from my car, just a mere couple feet. And I just thought to myself, had he been watching me? Had he been stalking me because his car was parked so close to mine that this feeling of dread just kind of overcame me? In the car, he had grabbed both of my wrists and took them behind my back and used zip ties to restrain my arms behind my back. And then I saw him take these band aids and peel off the white strips and place it on my eyes, two of them, one horizontal and one vertically in the shape of a cross, and then put sunglasses on over my eyes to conceal the band aids. And he was so practiced. I knew that he had done this before. It was just so methodical and practiced that in my heart of hearts, I knew that this was not his first time doing this.

[Narrator]

It's November 2010 in Auburn, New York. Pat owns a small farm in Cayuga County.

[Pat]

I got back from church that Sunday morning, and I told my wife after we had breakfast, well, I'm go out and I'm going to start combine. I says, you know, we've got a couple nice days, and I want to try and get as much of my soybeans done as I can. I try and do all my own crops myself. So I take off out of the house and I go over and I head over to the field with the combine. It's very dangerous. There's a lot of moving parts on it. There isn't a part on that machine that is really to be really safe. I mean, because a lot of parts on the combine, there's no shields on them because a combine is a piece of equipment that you can't put all the covers and shields on because you have to see some of the machine actually working. I combine one field and I got five acres done. And then I started down to another field, and when I was coming down to the other field, I heard this loud noise on the machine, and it started making a lot of rattling and banging. I go, wow, that's not good. So I shut the machine down. This pulley was shot. The bearing had gone on. I go, well, I go, I shut the machine down already. I go, well, I think I got another one. I walk back to the, you know, about three quarters of a mile to where my farm is, you know, where the house is and where my garage is.

[Narrator]

Pat returned to the combine and replaced the broken pulley.

[Pat]

I fired it up. I go, I better make sure everything's working all right on this machine. After I got the belt back on it and everything, I got it running. I got the machine running full tilt. I mean, you know, I don't know what the RPMs was on, but it was running rather fast. So I'm walking around the machine. I go, well, everything looks like it's working okay, so well, maybe I can start combining again. I get back up in the combine and I start it all back up, you know, the header and everything. Make sure everything's working all right. Well, I go to let the header down. Oh, darn it. I didn't take the header lock off.

[Narrator]

The header is the part of the combine that cuts the crops.

[Pat]

The lock holds the header up so that when you know, if you're working on it, it won't come down on top of you. It's a safety lock. The machine was running, and like a fool, I didn't go back up and turn it off. Well, it'll only take a millisecond. I'm not gonna walk back up into the combine now. I'm in a hurry, you know.

[Narrator]

To undo the header lock, pat had to reach past a rotating shaft.

[Pat]

So I reached through there rather than turn the machine off, and I grabbed a hold of the header lock and I raised it up and I. And just as I got it raised up and got it hooked into place, I felt a quick tug on my arm. I go, wow. And the next thing I know, my hand's all wrapped around this shaft.

[Narrator]

It's December 1991 in Houston, Texas. 14 year old Tricia is at home alone.

[Tricia]

I kind of was doing my normal morning routine. I was just Taking a shower in my bath and had gotten dressed and I was waiting for a TV show to come on. I was sitting there and the doorbell rang. I got up and went to the door, opened the door and there was a young man standing there. He looked at me and he actually asked me, do you remember who I am? And I was pretending that I did. And I was like, oh, yes, I remember who you are. I remembered who he was when he mentioned a girl's name.

[Narrator]

Tricia recognized 15 year old Steven as a friend of a friend.

[Tricia]

I remember he was sweating profusely. He said that he needed a glass of water. And I turned around to go to the kitchen and he followed me right in the house. And I told him right off the bat, I said, my mother's not here right now, she'll be home shortly and you can't stay, but I'll get you the water. He was telling me about his grandmother who he wanted to go see and who he wanted to live with. And she was sick. And so I was leaning on the side of some sympathy. He asked me if there was any way that I could get him some money. And I told him that there was no money at the house. He looked at me and he said he understood and that he was going to try and speak with some other friends and see if he could get some money up to go to California. The end of our conversation, he pointed toward his hand and he said he had something in it. I asked him if he wanted a needle and he said, no. Do you have anything sharper? I proceeded to go into the kitchen and I grabbed the biggest knife in the drawer and he put the knife in his hand and he just cut into his hand. And blood started dripping down from his hand onto the kitchen table. I told him, I said, you have to get over the kitchen sink. And in my mind I was thinking, you are nuts. I said, steven, give me the knife, let me clean it up and put it up. And he turned around and he just glared at me and gave me the coldest glare ever seen in my life. He didn't say anything to me. He came towards me with the knife and he kept coming towards me and somehow I tripped and I was on the floor. At that time, he proceeded to kneel down over top of me and started stabbing me in my chest.

[Narrator]

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[Narrator]

A man with a knife abducts 17 year old Angela from a mall parking lot. He binds her hands, puts adhesive bandages over her eyes and drives her away.

[Angela]

So he asked me what my name was and I made up a name. I said, nancy, what's yours? And he just snapped, it doesn't matter what my name is. And he just kept driving with his eyes to the front. Every time that I tried to talk to him saying, you know, you have to let me go. All these things that I kept saying to him, my parents are going to be looking for me. No response, no reaction. And when you think of like a psychopath, that's what I think of as somebody like that. No expression, no emotion, totally stoic. I think that is really what frightened me the most, is seeing him have no emotion. In this whole experience. I didn't know where we were going, I didn't know how far we were going. All these questions in my mind, racing. The not knowing I think was the hardest part of it. That's when I lost it and I started to sob. And through these tears I think it actually loosened the band aids a little bit. He didn't know that I could see, but as we were driving I could see down to either side, down to the left and down to the right. But he didn't know that. And I'm seeing all these cars zoom by and here I am completely helpless, completely powerless, thinking, should I try and, you know, mouth for help as these people are driving by? But I felt like there was really nothing that I could do. I kept thinking to myself, if I get out of this situation alive, he's not getting away with it. And so I remembered all these details of the route that we were going and details about his face, the car, the beaded seat cushion, the city sticker, the broken antenna, all These things that I could catalog in my head. And for me, that was a way that I was able to regain power. As we were driving, I was able to wriggle my hands out of the restraints. Even though these plastic zip ties were so tight, I was able to wriggle my hands free. And I kept him behind my back and surveyed the situation. And I had seen that he took the knife, put it into the cardboard sheath, kept it at his side. The seatbelt was on me, the door was locked. And I thought to myself, even if I was able to roll out of the car, if I broke an arm, if I broke a leg, at least I was out and at least I was free. I just took this giant deep breath and tried to undo the seatbelt and get to the door, but he was too fast. Slams on the brakes, grabs the knife, puts it to my face and says, try that again, bitch, and your face won't be so pretty anymore.

[Narrator]

Pat is harvesting crops with a combine after fixing a fault. He starts the engine and realizes he's left a safety catch on. His hand gets wrapped around a rotating shaft. As he releases the catch, I could.

[Pat]

Still see my hand, but the shaft was turning. And the pressure that was pulling on my arm was unbelievable. It was excruciating pain. The pressure was. I didn't think I was going to be able to take the pressure. I looked down, my hand was all wrapped around the shaft and my clothes at the same time. I had coveralls on. This one piece suit I had was no longer a one piece suit anymore. It was all wrapped around the shaft. I was completely exposed except for where the cloth was wrapped around. The shaft was wrapped around my waist, pulling me in, squeezing the life out of me like a tourniquet. And I could feel the leg, my leg starting to get real hot. And I looked down at my leg and, well, the shaft was starting to burn into my skin on my leg. And it was burning on the one side, and then I could feel it starting to pull on the other side. And I could feel it, the shaft was getting hot. I mean, it was burning my skin off. It was literally tearing the skin off my leg and burning it. I'm getting pulled in tighter and tighter. The more I pulled, it felt like the tighter it was getting on me, and I couldn't stand the pain. I go, God help me. I said, I don't know how much more this pain I can take. And I'm looking down, I'm assessing the value of my hand. I'm looking at my hand. I go, pat, that hand is the only way you're going to get loose is to rip your hand off. And I go, I don't know if I can do that. I started to feel a little bit sick and I just told myself, pat, this isn't the time to get sick now. We got to get out of here.

[Narrator]

14 year old Tricia is at home when a boy she knows comes to the door. Inside the house, Steven suddenly stabs Tricia with a kitchen knife.

[Tricia]

I was fearing for my life, I really was. I didn't know why this was going on and I was scared. I wanted him off of me and I just kept thinking that I was gonna die. He went from blank stares to a remorse, guilt, I'm sorry look to I'm gonna kill you. I said, stephen, why are you doing this? And as he was taking the knife out of my chest, he said, shut up, you stupid bitch. He then proceeded to stab me one more time and the knife went all the way into my chest. He took the knife out of my chest and there was a. There was a coldness within my body. There was no pain, there was just a coldness. I continued to fight with him even after he stabbed me in the chest. I put my arms up and, and just to protect myself as much as I could. And he just, repeatedly just came after me over and over again.

[Narrator]

Tricia fought with Steven and tried to get to the phone.

[Tricia]

I struggled to get up on the counter, he was very close behind me. I pushed the nine and the one on the phone and as soon as I got the one in, he grabbed the receiver of the phone from me, yanked it out of the phone and itself and he sliced my throat with the butcher knife.

[Narrator]

17 year old Angela is abducted outside a mall by a man with a knife. She is in the front seat bound and blindfolded as they speed down the freeway.

[Angela]

As we were driving down the expressway, getting farther and farther away from the mall, farther and farther away from any area that I knew that that dread started to build and build. We're driving down the expressway and I see him start to pull off.

[Narrator]

The man pulled into a secluded forest.

[Angela]

When he removes the zip ties that were binding my wrist behind my back. All these questions in my mind, should I try and run? I don't know where I am, there's nobody around. I thought maybe I should try and get out of the car and try and run for help. And I had this image of him chasing me down and cutting my throat in the woods. And so I just kept listening to my instinct. And my instinct told me to stay in the car. I can hear this rustling in the back. And he asked me what dress size I was so weird, so confusing. But I remember my stomach just dropped, you know, thinking, what is going on? Heard him rustling in the back. Pulls out this evening gown, and he tells me to take off my clothes. Every single piece of clothing that I took off just felt like, you know, just making me more and more scared, more and more helpless. He helps me put on this evening gown and kind of wriggles it down. And it's this long dress, almost like a prom dress. And he takes the zipper and zips it up the side, and it fit like a glove. How did he know exactly what size I was? And that was so scary and so creepy. And then this other shirt was put on me, this red satin shirt. And I just felt like I was being dressed up just like a doll. And these questions of, what's gonna happen? Am I gonna be raped? Am I gonna be killed? Is this. Is this it?

[Narrator]

Pat's hand gets wrapped around a rotating shaft. As he works on his combine, his clothes are being pulled into the machine, slowly crushing his body.

[Pat]

By this time, it's been at least probably five minutes. And this shaft's pulling and pulling and pulling. And I go, I'm gonna run out of energy if I don't get out of here soon. I have only one option. I gotta rip my hand off. So I just kept pulling and pulling as hard as I could. And all of a sudden, my hand just pulled right off my body. And I could feel it sliding right off the end of my bones, the bones of my arm. And when it slid off the end, it was like a. Like a suction sound. And I could feel the cold. It felt cold when it was running over the ends of the bone. And I looked down, and all I had left is I had two bones that used to hold my hand. And I see my half hand flying around on this shaft, and I go. I go, God says I've lost my hand. Well, that's not the biggest problem I've got now. I gotta get out of here. My body is still stuck to this shaft. Cause all the clothes I had on, I mean, I had, you know, full coveralls on. They were all wrapped around my waist. My legs were exposed. I had nothing on the top of me. All I had left on was a hat, shoes and socks and clothes wrapped around my waist that was pulling me into the shaft, which was spinning at least 1800 RPMs or more. You know, I'm gonna lose my life if I don't get loose, because, I mean, this thing is squeezing the life out of me. I can't even hardly breathe anymore. I was stuck. And I kept twisting my arm back and forth, trying to get some leverage. I couldn't get any leverage. And my hand was just picked clean, just like a chicken bone, you know, if you went out and you got some chicken wings, that's what it looked like. All it was, just the two bones, they weren't broken. They were all still there. But I couldn't get my arm to move enough to get loose. So I go, wow, maybe if I reach over, maybe if I break those bones off. So I reached over and I. With my other hand, and I twisted as hard as I could trying to break those bones. All I said I felt was severe, excruciating pain in my elbow. I go, I can't do that. That's too much. I can't do that. There's got to be a better way of getting out of here.

[Narrator]

Tricia is repeatedly stabbed in the chest by a friend and fights for her life. Her attacker, Steven, slits her throat as she tries to dial 911.

[Tricia]

I remember how cold it was, just the steel just going over my skin, just breaking my neck wide open. He had the receiver, and I thought that, okay, he's got the receiver in one hand, he's got the knife in the other hand. I might have a chance to try to get the knife away from him. I ended up grabbing the blade of the knife, and he had the handle, and he yanked the handle back, and it severed all the tendons in my fingers. But I just remember it didn't hurt again. It just felt real cold and just real, almost a wet feeling.

[Narrator]

Stephen dropped the knife during the struggle.

[Tricia]

I remember the sound of the knife hitting the. Hitting the floor. And shortly after the knife hit the floor, my knees buckled and I hit the floor, and I looked up, and he was standing on top of me. He proceeded to kick me in my stomach, and he kicked me in my head, and I passed out.

[Narrator]

Angela is driven to a quiet forest and forced to undress. At knifepoint, the man forces her to put on a satin dress and a matching shawl.

[Angela]

So I'm sitting in the passenger seat of the car wearing all these layers of these satin clothing, feeling just like a rag doll. And I heard him unzip his pants. He just grabs me even closer to him as he grabs my hand and puts it on him to be forced to do something like that against your will and to feel all you were there for was just a thing, an object was traumatizing. My eyes were shut so tight. But I know that there was a couple of tears that had fallen. And after he had finished, he cleaned himself off with this handkerchief, and he took it and he wiped the tears with that off my face, and it was just so repulsive. And with that same handkerchief, he. He wiped his fingerprints off my keys. And all of these feelings are going through me. And I knew that he had done this before. And every. Every cell in my body just felt like, I want to make sure that this guy gets brought to justice. And that's what kept me going through this, is just knowing that I was gonna do everything I could to. To get this guy to pay for what he did.

[Narrator]

The man told Angela to change back into her own clothes. He tied her up again and drove out to the forest.

[Angela]

He pulls back onto the expressway, and it takes a good solid few minutes for me to realize that we're actually heading back towards town. It's a sense of relief mixed with dread and confusion because I don't know if we're headed back. I don't know if I'm home free and safe. I have no idea.

[Narrator]

Pat's hand is trapped, and he is being dragged into a combine. He wrenches his hand off to escape, but his clothes are still entangled.

[Pat]

I got to push as hard as I can. Maybe I can stop this belt from turning this machine over, this part that's pulling me in tighter and tighter, because if I don't do something pretty soon, I'm either going to bleed to death or this thing's going to just. It's just going to pull and squeeze the life out of me. So I can't breathe anymore. So I started pulling as hard as I possibly could, and I took my hand and I put it over my bicep, and I started pulling and pulling and pulling, and I pushed my head down the machine. I finally used my head for more than just a hat rack. And I pushed as hard as I could with my head and the arm, what was left of my arm. And I had my elbow up against it because even though it was all raw, I figured whatever leverage I could get, it's going to do me the best to get out of here. I pushed as hard as I could, and I go, I don't think I'm going to make it. I go, God help me. And I said, God help me again. And just as I said that, I could feel. Felt like I had hands pulling on both of my shoulders. I couldn't turn around and see if there was anybody there or not. But I know that there was someone there because I could feel the pressure pulling me out as I was getting pulled in. All of a sudden I could. The shaft started slowing down. I could smell a belt burn. I go, wow, that smells like rubber burn. And I go, wow, I think I got a chance. I think I'm slowing this machine down.

[Narrator]

A friend stabs Tricia repeatedly and cuts her throat. She is lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding to death.

[Tricia]

I came to and I heard in the background somewhere in a far distance. It sounded like a door had shut. I didn't know if he was. Had come back through the house to finish what he had started or not. I looked around and there was blood everywhere. I could see the bloody knife on the floor very near me. And I was just looking around and I didn't know how I was going to get out of the spot that I was in. I was stuck in my own blood. I didn't know how much blood I had lost. But I knew that I had to find a way out if I was going to live. I was just playing over and over, get out, get out of the house. And I passed out again. I just woke up and I was in the hallway. I do not know how I got to the hallway. I had turned to my right and there was a mirror from the floor to the ceiling. And I remember I bumped into the mirror and I don't recognize myself. I'm. I have just tons and tons of blood all over me. My hair is just thick and covered in blood. My hands, my whole body. My white nightgown is now red. And I remember I reached up with my hand and I put it into my neck and I was just feeling my neck and my hand was inside my neck and I was just looking at myself and just. It was a dream. It felt like it was a dream. I didn't think I had that much time left. I just saw the front door and I had to figure out a way to get to it and I passed out.

[Narrator]

17 year old Angela is abducted and driven to a secluded forest. After sexually assaulting her, the man drives back towards the city.

[Angela]

Even as I realize the direction that we're going, I still have no idea. Am I gonna be safe? Am I gonna make it out? Is this okay? What's happening? He finally drives back, not to the mall that he picked me up from, but from an adjacent outdoor shopping plaza. And he pulls into A parking garage, and slowly starts to drive up the kind of circle that roundsabout up to the top floor. He takes a handkerchief. He grabs me out of the car, opens the door to the stairwell with the handkerchief and shoves me inside. And he orders me to count to 100. And of course, I wasn't gonna do that. I tried whatever I could to hurry up and get my arms free, my eyes free to try and catch his license plate. But the car drove off too fast. So in the stairwell, I remember just walking down the stairs feeling very. Everything was moving in slow motion. And I wanted to get mall security to drive me back to my car so I could try and get help. I walked over to this man who was doing paperwork, and he was looking down. And when he looked up, his face, I mean, his emotions were pretty apparent. His face just fell and said, I'm calling the police. And I knew that I was a mess. My clothes were a mess. Mascara was all over my face. You could tell that I had been crying. My arms were red and lacerated from where my hands were bound behind my back. So I knew that he knew something was wrong.

[Narrator]

Angela was taken to the police station and interviewed by a detective.

[Angela]

He says, well, I need to ask you a question that I ask all the victims that come in here. After I told him my story, he said, are you lying? He said, are you in an abusive relationship? Does your boyfriend hit you? Because sometimes girls get themselves into situations. Didn't believe me.

[Narrator]

Pat has to rip off his hand to release himself from a combine. His entangled clothes are still pulling him slowly into the machine.

[Pat]

I'm still stuck in there for quite some time. I'm figuring probably by now it seemed like an eternity, but it's probably only maybe about 15 minutes. And this shaft's still turning, and it's pulling me in tighter. I'm pushing as hard as I could. And finally I could smell the belt burning. And all I could see was this blue smoke. My eyes actually started to feel like they're starting to burn. All of a sudden, it just released. I actually stopped. I burned off the belt. I stopped that shaft from turning.

[Narrator]

Pat had stopped the shaft, but the combine was still running.

[Pat]

I wasn't loose yet. The shaft wasn't turning. So I reached over and I grabbed this 20 inch pulley and I started turning it backwards. So I got it turned enough and off so I could start pulling my clothes out of there. And I finally got myself loose from the shaft. And this machine's still running full tilt. I mean, it Was full throttle all the way. And then I went up and I shut the machine off. I really felt like. I felt like a happy man, like the happiest man in the world. I mean, I could not believe that I had burned off a belt on a machine and stopped the shaft from actually turning with all that force with just my own little body. I can't believe I walked away from that. I started back out of the combine and I started down the steps. You know, it's a little hard when you got one hand trying to pull yourself in and up out of this because this thing's off the ground probably about six feet. And then when I came back down, I go, wow, I want my hand back. Maybe they can put it back on. It doesn't look very good, but maybe they can save it. I don't know. So I started cutting my hand out with these pair of wire cutters and I finally got my hand loose and I went back up in the combine. I go, I gotta get something to wrap around my arm. If I do get rescued, you know, I don't want to be completely naked. So I took the sweatshirt and I wrapped it around my center section. I tied it off the best I could with, you know, with the one hand and I held the bones down there to pull it up tight. I'm looking at myself. Boy, I'm a sorry looking sight. I know you've seen Freddy Krueger before, I said, but I think I look worse than Freddy does right now. I got blood all over me. I have no clothes on. I got a hat and a sweatshirt and socks and shoes. Starting to feel light headed and weak and I was getting really nauseous. I go, well, I think I better get out of here as fast as I can. I knew I couldn't run because I felt too weak to run. But I knew if I walked real fast, I was going to find help. One way or another, somebody was going to find me.

[Narrator]

14 year old Tricia is attacked and left bleeding to death in her kitchen. She crawls through her own blood to the front door and then passes out.

[Tricia]

I woke up and I see the door and I'm reaching out to get the door open. Finally, I kind of slithered like a snake out of the door, the first door, and I hit concrete. It was so cold. I remember it being so cold. There was nobody around. It was deadly quiet. It was just still. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, someone to help me. I just kept calling out, just help, help me. I saw an outline of A person come halfway across the street and it was a man. And I remember he stopped at the edge of the street and he turned around and he went back to his house. The next thing I know, he came back halfway across the street and then his mother was standing there and she was calling 911. I remember them telling me, you know, Tricia, you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay. We have help coming for you.

[Narrator]

Tricia was rushed by helicopter to the hospital.

[Tricia]

The doctor said you had been stabbed 14 times in all. And we did eight hour open heart surgery on you to repair your heart. And you're lucky to be alive.

[Narrator]

Trisha's attacker, Stephen Wilson, evaded the police and fled the state.

[Tricia]

It was one thing to get through the physical attack and the healing process of the physical wounds, but it was a whole nother struggle to get through. He had taken on a new identity. He was a new person. He wasn't anybody that I knew. And he was out there. Twelve years later, I got a call from a detective saying that Stephen confessed to stabbing me. He was in prison and he confessed to what he had done and we were gonna bring him back and he was gonna be tried for attempted murder.

[Narrator]

Stephen Wilson has already served 12 years for three counts of rape to his stepdaughter. He is now in custody, awaiting trial for the aggravated assault of Tricia.

[Tricia]

I'm so relieved. It's an overwhelming relief to know that I don't have to fear, I don't have to be paranoid that there's going to be bars between him and I, and hopefully for a really long time.

[Narrator]

Pat has to wrench his hand off to free himself from a combine. He staggers back towards his farmhouse, feeling weak and nauseous.

[Pat]

I'm walking down the road and all of a sudden I look down and there's the dog, you know, there's my fearless dog. Dog comes running and she's walking down the side of the road, you know, looking at me like, you know, dog. I could tell the dog, dog knew that there was something wrong with me. It was helping me to safety. I thought, probably, but I feel a little more comfortable. At least the dog knows I'm alive. So I'm walking down the road and I get about a half a mile and I look down and I see my cousin out in the yard. He's out there burning papers or trash or something. And I look over at him, he's just staring at me, you know, here, this guy's walking down the road and I was a really sorry looking sight. It's something you really didn't want to see. He was in shock. And the guy is a fire chief for Union Springs Fire Department. So this guy sees stuff like this all the time, but he doesn't see a guy walking down the road holding his hand in his hand with no clothes on, with a sweatshirt and a hat on. And I go, garrett, Garrett, I need help. He comes running up to me and he says, pat, sit down. Sit down. And he just takes off, and he turns around. I go, oh, he's gonna leave me here. He takes off running and turns around and he gets to his house and he turns around, I'm right there. He says, pat, I told you to sit down. I says, garrett, I'm holding up my arm with the two bones. I says, you know what, Garrett? I've been left alone too long already. I said, I need help now.

[Narrator]

An air ambulance arrived to take Pat to the hospital.

[Pat]

When I was laying her on the ground before they airlifted me out, they were taking my pulse and stuff. And they said, well, we don't have any vital signs on them. And my cousin going. My brother goes. He says, well, maybe he's already dead and just doesn't want to die, you know? And everybody starts laughing. He's like, well, we gotta try and get some vital signs. Well, I'd lost so much blood that they couldn't get any vital signs.

[Narrator]

Surgeons were unable to reattach Pat's hand.

[Pat]

They cut it about halfway down to my wrist, between my elbow and to my wrist, and about halfway. So I got about 4 inches, 4 and a half inches from my elbow out. But whatever I got, I'm happy with. I'm happy to be alive. I survived, because I'm not ready to go yet. And the only reason why I. I think I know that I made this because I had, you know, help from the other side. I really had help from it because I had hands pulling me out of that machine. Because there's no way anybody could possibly burn a belt off on a machine like that without having help. They say, you have guardian angels. I think I have a few of them watching over me.

[Narrator]

A man dumps Angela in a parking lot after sexually assaulting her. She describes her ordeal to the police, but they don't believe her.

[Angela]

I stood up out of my chair at the police station, clenched my fists, and I walked out of there. We put so much pressure on the police station to take this seriously that they finally put two new detectives on the case. And the two New detectives said to me, angela, we have kids of our own. We're going to do everything we can to catch this guy. So I did a sketch of his face, and that's actually how they caught him. They had it faxed over to the police stations and someone recognized him.

[Narrator]

Angela's description led to an arrest two weeks later. Robert Cappa was on parole for a murder committed 15 years earlier. He was charged with sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

[Angela]

At the end, it took four years for my case to come to trial, but it was really empowering to be able to be up on that stand and look at him and say, this is what he did to me. And to. To look at him in court and he would just stare this icy stare at me. But it really helped me regain some type of power in my own life to be able to take it through the criminal justice system. And I wouldn't wish that pain and stress upon anybody, but I wouldn't take the experience back.

[Narrator]

Robert Capo was convicted and given a life sentence.

[Angela]

And I feel like we can't choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose our response. I survived because I listened to my instincts. I think I heard that little voice inside my head that told me to stay in the car that would help me through the situation. And I don't know if it's faith, I don't know what it was, but it was that instinct that I think kept me alive.

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[Pat]

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