Dangerous Paradise | 2

Summary

Felonious Florida: Season 5, Episode 2 – "Dangerous Paradise"

Release Date: March 21, 2024

Introduction

In Season 5 of Felonious Florida: The Altidor Massacre, host David Schutz delves deep into one of Florida's most enduring mysteries: the hunt for the elusive Pillowcase Rapist. This episode, titled "Dangerous Paradise," unravels the harrowing tale of Eileen Lear, a fifth-grade teacher whose life was brutally disrupted by a serial criminal in early 1980s Miami.

Miami’s Turbulent Era

The backdrop of this story is Miami during a period of intense turmoil. Dr. Paul George, a historian at History Miami, provides essential context:

“Miami had to be the most dangerous place on the continent. That was a conventional wisdom at the time. It's probably true to some degree.” [20:00]

The city was grappling with multiple crises: an influx of refugees from Cuba, escalating racial tensions following the acquittal of four white police officers for the fatal beating of Arthur McDuffie, and the explosive arrival of Colombian drug cartels igniting a violent drug war reminiscent of the scenes later popularized by Miami Vice.

Emergence of the Pillowcase Rapist

In November 1983, Eileen Lear's peaceful life in the High Pines neighborhood of Coral Gables was shattered when the Pillowcase Rapist invaded her apartment. Unlike his previous attacks, which were methodical and consistent, this assault would mark a turning point in the case.

The First Attack on Eileen Lear

Eileen, a dedicated fifth-grade teacher, describes the terrifying experience:

"I remember the time it was 4:45 in the morning and I woke up to someone in my bed sticking a knife in my arm." [01:49]

The attacker had been surveilling her apartment, exploiting an open window to gain access. His method involved keeping his identity concealed, typically using pillowcases and weapons like knives. However, this attack was notably more aggressive and personal.

Police Investigation and False Leads

Detective Dave Simmons took charge of the investigation as the Pillowcase Rapist's attacks intensified. Early on, a potential lead emerged when a victim identified David Scott Helfond—a convicted rapist already serving time—as the assailant after seeing his photograph in the news.

“The Elysian Lakes rape victim who saw him on the news insisted to the police that Helfond was the man who attacked her.” [03:02]

However, further investigation revealed Helfond was incarcerated during the time of the assaults, forcing the police back to square one.

Detective Simmons noted:

“I could see that there was a lack of communication going between the squads that were handling the different cases.” [05:55]

This realization led to the consolidation of the cases into a master file, aiming to streamline efforts and uncover consistent patterns in the rapist's modus operandi.

Miami’s Descent into Chaos

As Detective Simmons spearheaded the investigation, Miami was engulfed in violence. The city's streets were rife with drug-induced chaos, racial unrest, and rampant crime, making it a challenging environment for law enforcement.

“It was Dodge City for a while. It was wild.” – Detective Dave Simmons [24:13]

These societal upheavals provided the perfect cover for the Pillowcase Rapist to operate with impunity.

The Second Attack and Escalation

Just over a month after Eileen's initial attack, the rapist returned, brutally assaulting her again. This repeated intrusion highlighted a disturbing escalation in his criminal behavior.

Eileen recounts:

“He held me down and raped me.” [16:01]

Unlike previous attacks, the rapist did not tie her up, leaving Eileen more vulnerable and terrified than ever before.

A Disturbing Message

In a chilling turn, during a subsequent break-in, Eileen discovered a hidden message written on her bathroom mirror after taking a hot shower:

"You fuck good” – Eileen Lear [31:27]

This message not only signaled the rapist's continued obsession but also offered a potential clue that could have been missed by investigators.

The Investigation Continues

Detective Simmons and his team faced mounting pressure to apprehend the Pillowcase Rapist. The escalation in the aggressiveness and boldness of the attacks suggested the perpetrator was growing more confident and possibly more dangerous.

“Each apartment probably required six or eight detectives on the outside.” – Detective Dave Simmons [33:51]

The episode concludes on a suspenseful note, hinting at the possibility of trapping the rapist in his next move, setting the stage for intense developments in the following episodes.

Conclusion

"Dangerous Paradise" masterfully intertwines the personal trauma of Eileen Lear with the broader societal chaos of 1980s Miami. Through firsthand accounts, expert insights, and meticulous reporting, David Schutz paints a vivid picture of a city under siege and the relentless pursuit of justice against a cunning and violent adversary.

Listeners are left eagerly anticipating the next installment, where the hunt for the Pillowcase Rapist promises to reach its gripping climax.

Notable Quotes:

• Eileen Lear on waking up during the first attack: “I remember the time it was 4:45 in the morning and I woke up to someone in my bed sticking a knife in my arm.” [01:49]

• Detective Dave Simmons on the investigation: “I could see that there was a lack of communication going between the squads that were handling the different cases.” [05:55]

• Dr. Paul George on Miami's danger: “Miami had to be the most dangerous place on the continent. That was a conventional wisdom at the time. It's probably true to some degree.” [20:00]

• Detective Dave Simmons describing Miami during the drug war: “It was Dodge City for a while. It was wild.” [24:13]

Further Information

To delve deeper into this gripping case and follow the ongoing investigation, tune into Felonious Florida: The Altidor Massacre Season 5, available on May 6. For more episodes and early access, join Wondery through their app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Transcript

[David Schutz]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Felonious Florida Season four early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. This episode contains graphic language and descriptions of sexual violence that some listeners may find disturbing. For over two years, he has eluded the best efforts of Miami's police forces and in that time, say police, has probably raped dozens of women. November 1983 news is spreading through Miami about a serial rapist who's been breaking into apartments late at night and attacking women.

[Eileen Lear]

The Pillowcase Rapist has not killed any of his victims, but police say they are concerned he's becoming more violent.

[David Schutz]

He's stealthy and usually armed with a knife. None of his victims has ever seen his face. Investigators have brought the case to the media and begin urgently warning women to take precautions.

[Dr. Paul George]

We're asking that they be very cautious. Watch for suspicious people in their complexes and be sure to lock their windows and sliding glass doors, even on upper floors.

[David Schutz]

But in a small apartment south of Miami, news of the pillowcase rapes hasn't reached eileen lear. The 30 year old teacher has other things on her mind. Her fifth grade class the next day and Thanksgiving in a week.

[Eileen Lear]

It was a regular school day and in those days I thought nothing about keeping my windows open at night. I felt completely safe here.

[David Schutz]

But the pillowcase Rapist had been staking out her apartment and sneaks into one of her open windows just before dawn.

[Eileen Lear]

I remember the time it was 4:45 in the morning and I woke up to someone in my bed sticking a knife in my arm.

[David Schutz]

In some ways, the attack on Eileen went down the same way the others had. But there were also some brazen and terrifying deviations. One in particular alarmed detectives and intensified their manhunt. Just over a month after he attacked Eileen, the rapist went back for her again, breaking into her apartment and shattering the fragile sense of security she was still clinging to.

[Mike Corey]

Business wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business and how they shape our world. From boardroom blow ups to strategies gone wrong, these are the stories behind the headlines. Listen to Business wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[David Schutz]

From. The South Florida Sun Sentinel this is Felonious Florida, the podcast that leads you into the dark side of the Sunshine State. I'm David Schutz and this is the 40 year old story of the hunt for the Pillowcase Rapist, one of Florida's most elusive serial Criminals. Episode 2 Dangerous paradise by the time of Eileen Lear's Attack. It had been two years since a serial rapist first emerged at the Elysian Lakes apartments where he raped at least five women. And the investigation had gone nowhere. There were no clues, no fingerprints. The attacks happened at night in the darkness, and the suspect used pillowcases and other objects to keep his identity hidden. But in early 1983, a flicker of hope sparked. It was the kind of potential breakthrough that fuels a stalled investigation, however briefly. Had one of the Elysian Lakes victims spotted the man who raped her that March? She called the police to report just that. She told them she saw a picture of her attacker on the news. Now investigators had to determine if he was the pillowcase rapist. The photo was of a man who had just been arrested for a grisly murder far from Miami on March 2, 1983. The man had broken into the swanky Houston home of a woman named Elizabeth Faubus. She was the estranged wife of Orville Faubus, the former governor of Arkansas. She had been raped and beaten, then strangled in her bathtub. The suspect was a 25 year old fugitive from Florida named David Scott Helphon. And the Elysian Lakes rape victim who saw him on the news insisted to the police that Helfon was the man who attacked her. At first, it seemed plausible. Helfond was a convicted rapist and was wanted for attempting another rape in Dade County, Florida, just four months before the Houston murder. He also matched some of the basic descriptions given by other Elysian Lakes victims. It was an intriguing lead, but quickly became the first of what would be many frustrating dead ends in this investigation. Police determined that at the time of the Elysian Lakes rapes, Helfond was still in a Florida prison for the 1974 rape of an 11 year old girl. David Helfond couldn't have been the pillowcase rapist. Just like that, the investigation was back to square one. And by the fall of 1983, the two years of rape cases were being consolidated together for the first time. Detective Dave Simmons was assigned to lead the effort.

[Detective Dave Simmons]

I could see that there was a lack of communication going between the squads that were handling the different cases. One didn't know what the other was doing or what had been done on their case, et cetera. So I thought that it would make sense to consolidate the case and make it what we call a master case.

[David Schutz]

Detective Simmons took over just as a new wave of rape reports began to come in from a concentrated area southwest of downtown Miami. Simmons believed the same man was responsible.

[Detective Dave Simmons]

For all of them, based on his unique method of Operation MO we call him police work. He had a pretty unique MO that was different from the other cases that we're seeing coming in. And the description was consistent that we.

[David Schutz]

Were getting from our victims, but the descriptions were sparse. He seemed to be in his 20s. He was probably white and didn't have any kind of an accent. He was average height and athletic enough to climb buildings, to reach balconies on upper floors. That was about all they had. And he was now attacking women at a rapid clip. On August 8th at 4:18 in the morning, a woman was attacked and raped in an apartment building just west of the Dadeland Mall. Sixteen days later and four and a half miles to the west, he struck again. Also at just after 4am on October 3, he was back near the Dadeland Mall, attacking a woman in an apartment complex known as the Meadows. And just over six weeks later, he struck again, this time in a complex called the Pathways apartments. It was November 17, 1983. That's when Eileen Lear was jolted awake by the pillowcase rapist on her bed and jabbing her with a knife.

[Eileen Lear]

I remember thinking, I watch news shows like this and tonight it's going to be me that people are going to be hearing about. It's me who's going to be on the news for being murdered.

[David Schutz]

Today. Eileen Lear's condo is just three blocks from the Pathways where she lived on the night she was attacked more than 40 years ago. So this is the building that you lived in?

[Eileen Lear]

No, we're going to go in that courtyard. My building's in the back.

[David Schutz]

It only took me and Eileen a couple of minutes to walk there from where she lives today. The two story buildings of the Pathways form a U shape around a small parking area and a central courtyard.

[Eileen Lear]

Here it was 5,000, 590 and it was this apartment right here.

[David Schutz]

So this would be the front window. And you think that he came in the back window.

[Eileen Lear]

You can't see the back from here.

[David Schutz]

You know, Eileen's front door and a living room window face the courtyard.

[Eileen Lear]

So yeah, that was my living room. And then my bedroom would have been in the bathroom. And then, yeah, he came out here. That's where he said, you know, I'm going to wait and you know, if you get up, I'll kill you.

[David Schutz]

Eileen's lived in this part of Miami since she was 18 years old. That's when she left the New York area to attend the University of Miami. The campus is barely a mile away where Interstate 95 ends its 1900 mile route down the US East Coast. The neighborhood is called High Pines, a small, unincorporated enclave notched into the city of Coral Gables. But it doesn't carry the hefty price tags of the swanky Gables or nearby Coconut Grove.

[Eileen Lear]

It was very quiet, was sort of like a hidden gem here in Miami. Very walkable. As it still is, I felt completely safe here. My neighbors were wonderful, most at the time, the apartment I was in at the time I was renting. But most of the people who lived there were owners, and we'd hang out at the pool and walk the neighborhood and go to restaurants, and it was just an easy life.

[David Schutz]

Eileen was teaching in the Miami Dade public school system. It's where she spent her entire career, mostly as a special education teacher. In the fall of 1983, she was teaching fifth grade at Treasure Island Elementary. It was exactly one week before Thanksgiving and a normal school night. Eileen packed a lunch for the next day and went to bed. At some point in the night, an intruder climbed into Eileen's enclosed backyard and broke into her apartment through an open window. Once inside, he unlocked the back door, maybe to ensure he had an escape route if something went wrong. Then he crept into Eileen's bedroom. When she awoke, all she saw was a covered face.

[Eileen Lear]

Odd as it may sound at first, waking up out of a sound sleep was so disorienting that I thought it might have been a friend playing a joke on me, even though I didn't have friends who would do that. But I just couldn't process what was going on.

[David Schutz]

That's a common reaction by victims in these cases or anytime somebody's ambushed in their own home. But it became real very fast for Eileen. With his knife against her body, the intruder asked if her roommate was home. It was an odd question since she didn't have one. In hindsight, Eileen believes he'd been staking out her apartment, including looking at the labels on her mailbox.

[Eileen Lear]

I do wonder if the reason he asked me was because at the time, I had two names on my mailbox. I had a friend who was going to be spending a good bit of time down here from the Buffalo area, and he had his mail forwarded to my apartment. So I had put his name on my mailbox.

[David Schutz]

Eileen told him she lived alone.

[Eileen Lear]

And then he pulled me up out of my bed, threatened that if I looked at him, he would kill me. He actually said he would fuck me up. Those were his words.

[David Schutz]

It was the beginning of the most terrifying 30 minutes of Aileen's life.

[Anna Richardson]

The town of Agda in France is famous for sun sand, sea and sex. But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.

[Detective Dave Simmons]

I am the Archangel Michael.

[Anna Richardson]

The whole town has been thrown into.

[David Schutz]

Chaos as the mayor is unable to.

[Unknown]

Carry out his duties.

[David Schutz]

I would like to address you all. Legal proceedings have been initiated.

[Anna Richardson]

Join me, Anna Richardson and journalist Leo Chic for the mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption and magic. Binge all episodes of the mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery. Plus, start your free trial in Apple podcasts, Spotify or the Wondery App.

[Mike Corey]

Before the Internet ruled our lives, AOL brought America Online with email and Instant messenger. By 2000, AOL was so powerful, it bought media giant Time Warner. This was a deal that was supposed to bring us into the future, revolutionize media. But instead, it became one of the messiest corporate disasters in history. So what went wrong? The dot com crash? Culture clashes? Or something deeper? Business wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business and how they shape our world. Because when your flight perks disappear, your favorite restaurant chain goes bankrupt, or new tech threatens to reshape everything overnight, you can bet there's a deeper story behind the headlines. Make sure to follow Business wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can binge all episodes of Business. The AOL Time Warner Disaster. Early and ad free right now on Wondery.

[David Schutz]

The stranger in Eileen Lear's apartment held a knife to her as he pulled her from her bed. He gripped her by the back of the neck and forced her through the apartment toward the back door he'd opened earlier. He locked it and headed back toward Aileen's bedroom. But to get there, they'd have to pass a full length mirror in the hallway. And the intruder had removed the covering from his face. It's a possible opportunity for Aileen to get a look at him. But at the last moment, he realized his mistake, grabbed her from behind and yanked her away from the mirror.

[Eileen Lear]

He was behind me and grabbed my hair at the nape of my neck, and he just kept threatening that he would kill me if I tried to look at him.

[David Schutz]

He forced Eileen back to her bed and shoved a pillow over her face.

[Eileen Lear]

And I remember holding onto his hands and trying to push them away from me a bit and telling him I Couldn't breathe. And he loosened his grip on the pillow a bit. So for a moment, then I thought, well, okay, maybe he's not going to kill me if he responded that way.

[David Schutz]

He held her down and raped her.

[Eileen Lear]

You know, I just remember lying there and just saying some prayers, doing meditations, whatever, just hoping I was going to, you know, get through it. And then he said, now I have one more thing I have to do.

[David Schutz]

In all of his previous attacks, the pillowcase rapist had been methodical, consistent, and callous toward his victims. But after he raped Eileen, his behavior shifted. At this point, he should be tying her up. That's what he'd always done, using a cord or piece of cloth he'd find in the room. And he did make Eileen cut the phone cord and hand it to him.

[Eileen Lear]

So when he said, there's one more thing I have to do, and again, he was grabbing me at the nape of my neck, and he had the cord. And I thought, okay, now I have to fight, because if he's going to start to. And he tightened his grip on my neck, and I thought, oh, gosh. So I was ready then to put up a fight. And he said, I have to tie you up. I just pleaded with him. I said, please, please, please don't tie me up. I have nowhere. I'm not going to go anywhere.

[David Schutz]

We'll probably never know why. But unlike his other victims, he didn't tie Eileen up.

[Eileen Lear]

He left me on my bed and said that he was going to go outside and wait outside, and if I left the apartment to go get to somebody, that he would come back in. And again, he said he would fuck me up. So, of course, intellectually, I knew that wasn't true. I knew he wasn't going to be sitting outside on my front steps.

[David Schutz]

So she kept still and listened as he left. And as he did, an odd exchange took place. To get to his escape route through the front door, the attacker had to walk through Eileen's living room on his way out.

[Eileen Lear]

When he told me he'd be sitting outside, I heard this loud noise, and it sounds bizarre, but I even said to him, what was that? What's that noise? And he said, oh, I just tripped over your stereo speaker, but I'm on my way out now.

[David Schutz]

In his earlier attacks, he had rarely spoken more than a few threatening words to his victims.

[Eileen Lear]

It was weird, a weird sort of exchange.

[David Schutz]

Eileen listened to her front door open and close, Then silence. For the next 30 minutes, she waited in her bed, frozen in fear.

[Eileen Lear]

I couldn't move I just couldn't move. I was terrified.

[David Schutz]

And she contemplated what to do next.

[Eileen Lear]

Sometimes people will ask, well, why didn't the woman report it? Why did it take so long? I will say there were a few moments where I was lying there thinking, I'm just going to forget about this and go to work and go on with my day, knowing full well I couldn't really do that. But those were the thoughts that came into my mind. I can't deal with this. I'm going to work.

[David Schutz]

Eileen gathered the courage to get up and leave her apartment. She ran up the stairs, sobbing as she banged on her neighbor's door for help. And her attacker was long gone.

[Eileen Lear]

That was the first time he was.

[David Schutz]

In my apartment, but it was not the last. When the report of Eileen's attack came into the rape unit, Detective Simmons and his team were already inundated with cases. The investigation was a daunting task, and police agencies in Miami were thin on resources. That's because cops throughout the region were dealing with a near sudden explosion in violence. Even the streets just outside Eileen's quiet enclave of High Pines were chaotic.

[Dr. Paul George]

Miami had to be the most dangerous place on the continent. That was a conventional wisdom at the time. It's probably true to some degree.

[David Schutz]

That's Dr. Paul George. He's the resident historian at History Miami. And few people know the city's turbulent past as well as he does. Dr. George describes three unrelated but simultaneous crises that were rocking Miami in the early 1980s and leaving the police scrambling to keep up. It started with an upheaval on a Caribbean island about 200 miles south of Miami, Cuba, 1980. Fidel Castro has been in power for 21 years, and his new communist government is sparking widespread discontent on the island. Scores of Cubans begin seeking asylum in the US and using Miami as their gateway to freedom.

[Dr. Paul George]

Castro gets really angry when he learns of all this, and he sees the increase in numbers there, and he says, okay, I'm going to throw the gates up. Anybody wants to take refuge there, go head over there. And he makes sure that some of the worst of the Cubans, those who have been incarcerated, to get rid of them. You know, it saves on his jail cost and also gets rid of these malcontents. A lot of people with severe mental problems are part of the group, too, and it turns the town upside down. It's just unbelievable.

[David Schutz]

By the end of 1980, some 125,000 Cubans had fled to Miami. While the vast majority were peaceful people seeking a life of freedom, a significant Number were violent criminals who were now flooding into South Florida. At the same time, racial tensions that had been simmering in the city for years exploded. Four white police officers had been brought to trial for the fatal beating of a 33 year old black motorcyclist named Arthur McDuffie. But in a stunning verdict in May of 1980, an all white, all male jury acquitted the four cops.

[Dr. Paul George]

And it just enraged the black community and helped trigger the Miami riot, as we call it, for lack of a better term.

[David Schutz]

Bricks and bottles were thrown in the window of the Metro justice building and several cars were overturned and burned. The violence quickly spread to surrounding streets. It's a disaster. It's a war zone. There's a war going out there. Chaos had broken out on the streets across the county.

[Dr. Paul George]

It took place over a period of about three and a half to four days and you know, a lot of fires. White businesses in the black area were destroyed. A lot of black homes were roughed up, if not destroyed. It spread to Coconut Grove. It was not too far from downtown Miami.

[David Schutz]

Even after the riots were snuffed out, smaller pockets struck in the months that followed. And the racial tensions continued for years. And to make matters worse, police were beginning to battle a new menace infiltrating the streets of South Florida. It was coming all the way from the jungles of South America. The shootout occurred at about 2:30 when two Latin males entered the Crown liquor store at the west end of the Dadeland Mall. While the clerk was making up their order, two more Latin men entered the store and began firing. The assailants sprayed gunfire all around the parking lot. Wednesday, July 11, 1979. Colombian drug cartels had announced their arrival in Miami in brazen and deadly fashion.

[Dr. Paul George]

I was in San Diego at the time and I remember seeing the headlines of the San Diego newspaper, Wild shootout among rival cocaine gangs in Miami. I remember this was just unbelievable. This was going on.

[David Schutz]

It was the start of a deadly drug war that was glamorized years later by the TV show Miami Vice. Every day cartels battled for control of the cocaine smuggling trade. And Miami was the war zone.

[Detective Dave Simmons]

It was, it was Dodge City for a while. It was wild. They got guns and there's shootouts in shopping centers and broad daylight shootout shootouts on i95 on the Palmetto Expressway. It was wild.

[David Schutz]

The peak of the violence came in the middle of 1981. That was shortly after Eileen Lear moved into her apartment in the Pathways. It's been called Miami's deadliest summer. There have been so many murders throughout Greater Miami lately that a special refrigerated truck is now being used by the Dade Medical Examiner's Office to store all the bodies.

[Dr. Paul George]

You know, suddenly it's like you've gone from the glory days of the Miami Dolphins to this chaos, this mayhem in this city.

[David Schutz]

Time magazine dubbed the city, quote, the dangerous Paradise. And that's the Miami that the pillowcase rapist turned into his hunting ground. He was flying under the radar and attacking women with near impun.

[Alina Urquhart]

It's all a lighthearted nightmare. On our podcast Morbid, we're your hosts. I'm Alina Urquhart. And I'm Ash Kelly. And our show is part true crime, part spooky, and part comedy. The stories we cover are well researched. Of the 880 men who survived the attack, around 400 would eventually find their way to one another and merge into one larger group with a touch of humor. Shout out to her. Shout out to all my therapists. Out the years, there's been like eight of them. A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing. That motherf er is not real. And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal, or you love to hop in the Wayback Machine and dissect the details of some of history's most notorious crimes, you should tune in to our podcast Morbid. Follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and ad free by joining Wondery and the Wondery App or or on Apple Podcasts.

[Unknown]

Think about the most shocking true crime stories you've ever heard. Now imagine discovering that behind them lies a medical mystery so disturbing the government tried to keep it hidden for decades. On Medical Mysteries, we dive deep into unexplained medical cases that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the human body. And in our episode called A Redacted Medical Mystery, we teamed up with Declassified Mysteries to expose how one patient's symptoms led to led to the discovery of dangerous government experiments and suspicious deaths. From hospital rooms to classified files, this story reveals dark secrets that powerful institutions never wanted you to find. The episode is available now on both Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries and Redacted Podcast feeds. Listen to A Medical Mystery on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget, you can listen to this episode and more of your favorite Wondery podcasts ad free by Joining Wondery.

[David Schutz]

Eileen Lear's rape happened in November 1983, and between then and Christmas, the pillowcase rapist had struck at least three more times in the same area. At 9:30 on Thanksgiving night, a woman was attacked while watching TV in her first floor apartment in a building called Water's Edge. Five days later, he broke into an apartment near Tropical park in South Miami. He told a woman who lived there, I've got something I can kill you with. And he jabbed her several times in the neck with something sharp to prove his point. Four days before Christmas, he struck a second time at Water's Edge. The woman who lived there was washing her face in the bathroom sink when she was ambushed from behind. She told police she knew one of the neighbors in her building had been raped recently, but kept her first floor balcony door cracked to save on her electric bill. That's how he got in. And then on December 28, a call came in to police from a frightened woman who reported that somebody had broken into her apartment while she was out. The call went to Detective Simmons in the rape unit because this wasn't an ordinary burglary. The caller had been attacked by the pillowcase rapist four weeks earlier in the same apartment. It was Eileen Learn. In the weeks since she had been attacked, Eileen stayed with family friends and was trying to move forward after her terrifying encounter with a pillowcased rapist. She'd go back to her apartment every few days to get some clothes or to take a shower. She never went alone at night. But still she was beginning to wonder if it was time to go back there to live. She was regaining some of her sense of security and was determined not to be driven from the home she loved. But three days after Christmas, that small sense of security was shattered again. It was early in the morning and she'd gone there to get some clothes.

[Eileen Lear]

I went back to the apartment and I opened my front door and instantly got nauseous.

[David Schutz]

The first thing Eileen noticed was that music was playing on her stereo. She was sure that she hadn't left it on.

[Eileen Lear]

And my heat was on and I knew I had turned off the heat. I mean, back in those days, we actually had some cold days in December, but I had turned my heat off and they were both on and I got sick to my stomach. That was it. I knew he had been there again.

[David Schutz]

If Eileen was right, it would be highly unusual and an ominous change in the pillowcased rapist's pattern. Detective Simmons knew the man had attacked in the same neighborhoods and even in the same buildings, but he had never returned to the same apartment unit.

[Eileen Lear]

Sure enough, when they came back in here, they saw that in my bedroom that my underwear had been pulled out of my drawers. It was strewn all over my bedroom.

[David Schutz]

He had masturbated on her underwear, and it was clear he'd been there for a while, waiting in her apartment while listening to music on her stereo.

[Eileen Lear]

And my towels in my bathroom, a towel at least, was wet. So they thought he had taken a shower and had probably been there a good part of the night waiting for me. In some ways, that was harder than even the first time, because here he did come back. And now my life is completely thrown into turmoil.

[David Schutz]

Once again, Eileen was driven out of her apartment, and once again, she focused on rebuilding her confidence. It took another two weeks, but Eileen's strength and determination won, and she went back to her apartment again. But there was one more trauma she would endure there, Something the police missed while scouring her apartment the last time. A terrifying hidden message left behind by her attacker. There was no way the police could have seen it or that Eileen could have seen it, not until she returned to take a hot shower. And as she did, her bathroom mirror fogged up.

[Eileen Lear]

And I get out of the shower, and I look at my mirror, and I could see that he had written a message that said, you fuck good on my mirror. So then I'm standing there in the bathroom thinking, oh, my God, he's here now he's here again. And I stood frozen in my bathroom for, like, this fifth minutes with a towel around me, waiting for him to come blasting through my bathroom door.

[David Schutz]

Eileen's determination to hold onto her apartment only lasted a few more months. Incredibly, she even slept there, though usually on the couch.

[Eileen Lear]

I was determined that he was not going to scare me away, and I dug my heels in and said, I'm staying. And it wasn't until I moved that I realized how terrified I was every single moment that I was in the apartment.

[David Schutz]

Eileen finally packed up and moved out of the pathways and slowly began moving on with her life.

[Eileen Lear]

I felt broken inside. For the longest time, I felt, like, disjointed. I just. My body, everything about me felt kind of in pieces, but it took a really long time to feel fully connected again.

[David Schutz]

The pillowcase rapist's brazen behavior in Eileen Lear's case baffled Detective Simmons and his investigators. It put them on edge, and they feared he was progressing toward even more violence. But it also opened a potential opportunity. If their suspect had returned to Eileen's apartment, is it possible he'd do it again? If so, maybe they could catch him in a trap. One that called for elaborate planning and lots of resources.

[Detective Dave Simmons]

Each apartment probably required six or eight detectives on the outside.

[David Schutz]

Would the Pillowcase rapist make his first big mistake? That's on the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode of Felonious Florida. Please support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can listen to more episodes on the Wondery app [e-mail] or wherever you listen to podcasts. This season was reported, written and produced by me, David Schutz editing by Robin Webb and Gretchen Day Bryant sound design and production by Sean Pitts Web design by Carbell Multimedia with illustrations by John DeLuca soundtrack by DeWolfe Music sound clips courtesy of the Miami Dade Police Department and the Wolfson Archives at Miami Dade College. Special thanks to retired Detective sergeant Dave Simmons for his assistance with our reporting. This show is a production of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, a division of Tribune Publishing. Felonious Florida was created by Lisa Arthur and Juan Ortega. Follow Felonious Florida Season 4 in the Wondery App. You can binge the entire series early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[Unknown]

Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wondery's podcast Against the Odds. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who live to tell the tale. And sometimes we get to hear from survivors themselves in their own words. On our next season, it's May 2023. Competitive swimmer Ali Truitt has just graduated from Yale and completed her first marathon. But a few days after graduation, Allie is snorkeling in the Caribbean when suddenly she's attacked by a shark and finds herself in a fight for her life. Ali's epic journey to reclaim her love of the water pushes her further than she could have ever imagined, all the way to the Paris Paralympics. Follow against the Odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge the entire season ad free right now only on Wondery plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify today.