Katie Ring (12:43)

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Katie Ring (14:32)

Try now@windows.com copilot In 2007, Eva LaRue's success on the hit show CSI Miami was overshadowed by horrifying letters she was receiving from a stalker who identified themselves as Freddy Krueger. It was consuming her and her daughter's every waking moment and even started haunting them in their dreams. So when one of Eva's friends invited her and Kaya to come live with them in Italy for a few months while they were on a hiatus from filming CSI Miami, she jumped at the opportunity. She thought her stalker wouldn't be able to find her in Italy, and it was a time she could finally relax and unwind. However, that sense of protection and ease slipped away. A day and a half after landing in Italy, Eva woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of her bedroom door opening. The hallway light was on and Eva noticed someone standing in their doorway. She thought it was her friend, so she went back to sleep. But in the morning she learned that the house had been broken into. Thankfully, though, the burglar wasn't her stalker, and in a strange way, this made Eva feel empowered. She felt like this was her sign from God that she had been waiting for. She believed this was God's way of saying that he was going to keep her safe. So when CSI resumed filming, Eva and Kaya returned to the United States. But Eva was determined not to let anything happen to her family, and she did everything she could to prevent the stalker from finding them. Unfortunately, the FBI still hadn't been able to identify Eva's stalker. So she installed security cameras, gates, and listened intently to every safety tip Mike gave her. She felt empowered and like she had created a little fortress that gave them some protection. Until something transpired that Eva refers to as gate. Gate. Eva had put up two gates in front of her house to add an extra layer of protection. They were only six feet tall, but the town ordinance was that fences couldn't be above 5ft 8 inches or so. Despite explaining her entire situation and the seriousness of this stalker to her neighbors, she had to go to a town hall meeting to fight to keep her two gates. The town meeting was televised and one of the people on the board read her address out loud. Even after her explaining the entire situation, panic immediately set in. Paparazzi showed up at her house the very next day and they knew that if the paparazzi could find her, so could her stalker. So her brother, who owned a Moving company was able to move her out in two days. Luckily, at this time, she had just gotten engaged to Joe Cappuccio. And her and Kai were able to move into his home that was in a gated community and which gave them an added sense of security. She thought that once she had gotten engaged, the letters would calm down and the stalker would realize that she was now taken. But the stalker escalated even more. He sent letters to Joe's work. Eva and Kaya said that their time with Joe was the time they felt the safest. But three years later, the couple ended up getting a divorce. And although there were other contributing factors that led to the breakup, the stalking played a large role in their relationship ending. After the divorce, Eva and Kaia stayed in the gated community. And by this point, all of the letters had been forwarded to Eva through her publicist. But In June of 2016, Eva walked out to get the mail and was surprised by a handwritten letter. But the surprise quickly turned to dread when she immediately recognized the handwriting. After almost 10 years, her biggest fear came true. He had found their home address. Not only that, the letter was addressed directly to her daughter, Kaya. Before this point, she had told Kaya about the stalker, but had never mentioned how she was also a big fixation in his letters. She didn't tell her the details, but she needed to make sure Kaya was aware of the seriousness of this risk. Kaya was in high school at the time and she started to feel like she was in a cage. Every unknown face that showed up at her school could be the stalker. She started having panic attacks in her classes and constantly feared she would come home to her mom tied up, mutilated or dead. Eva described those words as absolute psychological terrorism. She said her worst fear was that the threats would become a reality, especially because they were receiving so many letters. By this point, they had gotten almost 40. And in October of 2019, another one of her worst fears came true. Their stalker decided to escalate things even further. At this point, Kaya was 17 and a senior in high school. And one day she got called to the principal's office. They notified her that her father had called and he said he was going to pick her up and that she should wait outside for him. But Kaia was confused because she and her dad hadn't made any plans for him to pick her up. So instead of going outside, Kaya, Kaya called her mom to ask if she knew anything about it. But Eva said no. Then Eva called her ex husband John to try and Figure it out. And that's when John told her he wasn't even in Los Angeles. Eva knew right away what was going on. Freddy had come to make good on his promise.

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Katie Ring (20:56)

After Eva LaRue stalker called her daughter Kaya's school In October of 2019, Eva hopped in her car immediately and rushed to pick up her daughter. Thankfully, nothing happened that day, but every possibility was running through their minds. Was he outside the school waiting for them? Was he going to follow them home? Was he finally going to make good on his promises? They didn't know where to turn, especially because they'd already moved twice to try and avoid any more mail. And if their stalker was able to find her school, he obviously knew a lot more about them than they thought. Two new FBI agents had been assigned to her case, though, and after this call, they knew they had to act fast. They gave the school a wiretap machine to trace the calls in case he called back. And he did, nearly 20 times. The principal's office called Kaya back in and apologized after hearing how sick and twisted those voicemails were. Their stalker, who had been invisible for so long, finally had a voice, and it was terrifying. Not only that, but he was escalating to calling, which was not a good sign, and the FBI was on it. As they were working in the background, Kaia had to be escorted to and from the school parking lot every day. The high school senior feared for her life every day. But thankfully, the new agents that were assigned to the case, Steve Kramer and Steve Bush, which they called Steve and Steve, were two of the agents who solved the infamous Golden State Killer case. The man who raped and murdered dozens of people during the 1970s and 80s. It had been a cold case for 42 years, but they used genetic genealogy to finally catch him. Although investigators in California had the suspect's DNA, it wasn't showing up in any of their databases. However, with genetic genealogy, they had access to sites like 23andMe and Ancestry.com and were able to identify many People who shared one relative in common. A man named Joseph James DeAngelo, who was a retired police officer from Northern California. This discovery gave authorities everything they needed to arrest and convict DeAngelo. About a year later, the FBI began to employ the same techniques in going after Eva and Kaya Stalker. When the stalker first started sending letters Back in 2007, Eva CSI Miami character was able to use DNA to to solve cold cases. But the difference between the show and reality is that in the show, the suspect's DNA would always be in the national DNA database, codis. In real life, however, a person's DNA is only in CODIS if they've committed a felony. So a lot of suspects don't ever show up. But now with genetic genealogy, they had access to other DNA resources that could help identify people related to the suspect and then allow them to track the suspect down. They finally had the technology on their side. Before Steve and Steve, the FBI was just hoping the stalker would get arrested and they would finally get a hit. But it never happened. But the men figured out that maybe they could use their tactics to prevent a case instead of just solving cold cases. They were able to use websites like 23andMe and Ancestry.com to narrow down their list of potential suspects. The FBI already had DNA and fingerprints from the letters that he had been sending Eva over the years. And they started building family trees off of that DNA from the genealogy databases. Luckily, they found a hit, and one of the families was based in Ohio, where all of the letters had been coming from. 12 years after Eva got her first letter, they found a suspect, James David Rogers, a nursing assistant living in a small town in Ohio. All signs pointed to James as a stalker, but they needed to be sure. At the time, James worked at a memory care facility, and two of the FBI agents pretended to be a brother and sister who were looking for a place for their parents. Before they moved in on him, they wanted to view his interactions with patients and his day to day schedule. They were disturbed that this man was caring for people's parents. But no one knew what was really going on. Behind the scenes, they were completely unaware of the sick letters he had been tormenting these two women with for years. FBI agents watched James as he went about his day. They followed him as he left work and ate at an Arby's restaurant. When he threw away his drink, the agents took the straw for DNA testing. And when they got the results back, it matched the DNA sample taken from the envelopes. One morning in November of 2019, not long after he'd left another voicemail at Kaya school. Agents descended on James at his house and arrested him. James was a 52 year old out of shape white guy who was living with his mom and sister. When his mom and sister were interviewed, they said they both had no clue what he was doing behind the scenes scenes. But as a kid, they would watch all my children together and he would watch it over and over. The FBI believed this is when his fascination first started. It was a huge day for Eva and Kaya, and it was also a milestone for law enforcement because according to the FBI, it was the first time forensic genealogy had solved a case at the federal level. Cases like the Golden State Killer were handled by local investigators. James was charged with two counts of mailing threatening communications, one count of threats by interstate communications, and two counts of stalking. He was looking at a maximum of 25 years in prison. James pleaded guilty on all counts, and at his sentencing In September of 2022, he appealed to the court by describing his abusive childhood and how he'd been bullied as a kid. He also spoke directly to Eva, so saying, I sincerely apologize for what I did for the last 12 years, putting you and your family through hellish behavior. I accept full responsibility. I hope you can put this behind you and at some point, never think about me again. Eva said. At first, Kaya didn't want to speak. But once she heard this man who had ruined their lives give ridiculous excuses for his actions and pleading for forgiveness and asking them if they could just put it behind them, she popped up and spoke her truth. Her mom was so proud. And it was a moment where she felt Kaya really took her power back. Eva didn't think she could put it behind her either. In her victim impact statement, she said, I forgive you, but I cannot forget the fear is with me forever. In the end, the court decided to go easy on James and he was sentenced to 40 months in prison, which is just over three years, with another three years of probation after that. Eva said that him only getting a little more than three years for 12 years of stalking was more than disappointing. It was devastating. They were relieved that they could stop looking over their shoulders for the next few years. But she also told the court she was worried what James would do once he got out of prison. After only 24 months served, James was released from prison and his probation will end in 2027. But rather than go back to living in fear, Eva and Kaya decided to speak out. On November 13, 2025, the documentary My Nightmare Stalker, the Eva LaRue Story aired on Paramount. In it, both women speak candidly about what they experienced during those 12 years and afterward. We absolutely need reform in how stalking is handled and charged. It makes me sick to my stomach how often nothing is done about stalking until the victim is killed. How can someone only be punished for 24 months after terrorizing a woman and her daughter for 12 years? He ruined the quality of their lives, ruined relationships, made them constantly look over their shoulder thinking any person at any time could be the person who would come after them and do these horrible things, he wrote. His actions caused nightmares, panic attacks and hopelessness. How are these devastating effects on these victims not met with the same level of repercussions? Also, if you're watching, this is a picture of the stalker. All these years they said they had pictured a Ted Bundy kind of character, but this guy was an old out of shape 52 year old loser living in his mom's basement with two contacts in his phone, his mom and Kaya's school. All this time this man who could barely walk terrorized them and the whole time they probably could have kicked his ass. These cases make me so mad because there is zero justice and I'm hoping with exposure to cases like this we can finally make some progress. I also hope that Eva and Kaya can also find the time and space to focus on themselves and their own healing. As always, we'll be sure to update you with any further developments on this story.

Katie Ring (30:30)

What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily and follow us on social media Rimehouse24.7 for real time updates because the pursuit of justice never stops.

Katie Ring (30:55)

Looking for your next crime house? Listen, don't miss Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore every Wednesday. Morgan and Kaylin take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue. It's like hanging out with your smart trip True crime obsessed friends listen to clues on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.