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- [00:03]
A
All I heard is a voice that I was not familiar with. And it said, don't move. And I looked up, I turned my head and I looked up and there was a gun in my face.
- [00:24]
B
I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
- [00:29]
C
I'm Anna Sega Nicolasi, former New York City Homicide prosecutor.
- [00:33]
B
And this is Homicide 360.
- [00:41]
C
We often say that the stories we tell, whether it was on AOM or now here on Homicide360, they are ways to honor the victims and give a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves.
- [00:53]
B
But in these first two episodes of Homicide360, we we're doing something a little bit different because we have the unique privilege of hearing a firsthand account of a horrifying crime directly from one of its victims.
- [01:09]
C
But as you'll hear, our guest is so much more than that. Label a victim. She is a survivor, a witness, a mom, and a model of strength and courage. Now, we do want to warn you that as part of this episode, we will be talking about sexual assault and graphic violence. And it may be triggering for some. There is also some strong language.
- [01:31]
A
My name is Kanya Lofton, and back In July of 1995, I was living in Moreno Valley, California with my parents.
- [01:41]
B
And to help tell her story, Kania is being joined by another extraordinary woman who led the investigation into the crime that changed Kania's life and remains a trusted partner in her long road to recovery and justice.
- [01:58]
A
My name is Michelle amicone and in July 1995, I was a senior detective assigned to the Moreno Valley station.
- [02:08]
B
We'll be hearing a lot more from Michelle in part two, but for now, let's take you to Marino Valley, a city in California's Inland Empire located just about an hour east of Los Angeles.
- [02:22]
C
One of four children, Kanya had grown up in Compton, near downtown la. So her family's move to a quiet middle class neighborhood in Moreno Valley was at the time a welcome change.
- [02:33]
A
Very typical suburban family neighborhood. Single family, homes well kept up, clean. Everybody was friendly with each other.
- [02:43]
B
According to Kanya, her childhood was a happy one. She was a good student and after high school was was living at home with her parents while she prepared for her dream career in the healthcare field.
- [02:56]
C
Smart, fun, loving and ambitious, Kania had big plans for her future and she had the support of her family and friends to help her achieve those goals. But she was also still young with the romantic streak. And in 1995, she crossed paths with a handsome and charming man named Gary Williams.
- [03:14]
A
I was 22 when I met Gary. And I was also a mom, so I had a young son at the time. He was four years old. I was a respiratory therapist. I had graduated school a couple years before.
- [03:28]
B
Then the sparks first flew between Kanya and Gary after they bumped into each other at a local dry cleaner.
- [03:37]
A
Summertime, it's kind of hot, and I see this guy and he's, like, laughing. And I just thought he had the most gorgeous smile.
- [03:47]
C
Gary was five years older, and he was dressed well and had Kanye's attention from the start. Before long, they were a couple and inseparable.
- [03:55]
A
He made me laugh. He was funny. He was a big time jokester.
- [04:01]
B
But it was also clear to Kanye that Gary was no angel. He had the swagger of someone who had been around the block once or twice and was familiar with what you call the rules and risks of. Of the street.
- [04:15]
A
He definitely, from what he eventually told me about, had life experiences. But Gary was very smart, and he showed me a side of him when it would just be just us that was, you know, fun and loving and soft.
- [04:37]
C
The fact that Gary drove an immaculate green El Camino and lived in a really large house with a pristine yard only added to his mystique.
- [04:47]
A
At first, I didn't know anything. I'm just like, gosh, like, what does he do? I never really asked, like, well, what is your house payment? Or, how do you do this? Or, how do you do that? I was afraid. I just. I listened. I didn't ask any questions. Anything that he offered to tell me, I took it as golden. I just ate everything up that he told me.
- [05:12]
B
According to Gary, the house belonged to his parents, and the extra cash, the clothes, the fancy car, well, that was all the result of a recent inheritance.
- [05:23]
C
And Kania says that Gary treated her and her son with kindness, and they were deeply in love. But she also admits that in the back of her mind, she knew that there might have been something about Gary that she was too afraid to ask.
- [05:36]
A
I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to know. You know, I didn't want the fear of having that weigh on me. I mean, you know, and he didn't win the lotto, you know, the cars and the music and, you know, the cell phones.
- [05:51]
C
And so, you know, there's already this question if this guy is living this secret life, or at least something that Kanye isn't privy to. Well, it's interesting, right? Like, what does it mean? She says she has a feeling he's up to something, but again, there's this Moral question, if he is up to no good, is it still okay for Kanye to be with him? And we can debate that for hours, Scott, But I really think the reality right here is that this is a young woman who' in love and head over heels. And as we know, lust and love don't always make the best decisions when it comes to matters of the heart. Especially when you add in Kanye's at the time, young age, this was a
- [06:26]
B
new type of relationship for Kanye. Gary was, as you said, much older. And she normally dated people that were much younger. He dressed differently. He had kind of a, as she said, swagger. You know, Ana Sika, she was really enjoying all of the attention and she just didn't want it to end.
- [06:42]
C
But let's just for a second, just speculate. So she feels that there's something going on that she doesn't really want to ask about. So, you know, what else could it be that's bringing in all this money? You know, is he a con artist, drugs enforcer? And again, I'm using all these terms because one thing that Kanye did know is that he had had contacts with the criminal justice system before, but she had really decided not to ask questions. So, you know, Scott, I really think it comes down to yes. Like, was she being naive? Like, maybe yes and yes. I think it's just as simple as
- [07:10]
B
that, in a sense, in a relationship wise, unless it really is in her face, so to speak, where she sees some kind of criminal activity or even hear some conversations that make her uncomfortable for her. She just didn't want to ask and she was just really enjoying herself. And By July of 1995, Kanye and Gary had been together a little over a year already, and things were getting pretty serious.
- [07:37]
A
So I still lived at my mom and dad's house, but I spent a lot of time at his house, and he lived by himself, but he always had friends over, a lot of company. In and out, in and out.
- [07:52]
C
On July 15, Gary and Kania made plans for romantic dinner. So Kania dropped her son with her sister and headed over to Gary's house on Mansfield Lane to pick him up.
- [08:03]
B
So Gary directed them to their favorite local restaurant, where he was his usual carefree self.
- [08:10]
A
We get food, we sit down, and I'm just kind of picking over my food. And he said, babe, what's wrong with you? This food is good. He picks up my chicken and takes the big bite out of it. And I was just looking at him like, oh, gosh, like, he was in rare form.
- [08:25]
C
So according to Kania There was no signs or signals that there was anything wrong or out of the ordinary going on. Gary was just being Gary, which is what made the next thing he said said a bit shocking.
- [08:36]
A
And we get back in the car, I'm driving, and he says, we have to hurry up and get back home. He said, my boy Buchi is supposed to come over. And I just kind of look at him because I hadn't met Buchi a few weeks before at his house. And I'm looking at him like, come over for what? And he says to me, I need a gun. And I said, why? And then he said, he's always joking and playing. He said, how else am I going to protect my baby? I need protection. I got to protect you.
- [09:08]
B
Yeah, I got to protect you. No doubt. The next question Kanya must have really been, protect me from what? But she kept her concerns, as before to herself and continued towards Gary's house.
- [09:22]
A
The sun has said it's officially nighttime. So we turn the corner. When we're making the left on Mansfield, I kind of slowed down because it was a car coming around, making a right, coming back the way we just came. And Gary said, wait a minute, Wait a minute. Who are them? And I just kept going.
- [09:42]
C
Kanye didn't think much of the burgundy sedan with the tinted windows, but Gary's talk of getting a gun was still weighing on her mind.
- [09:49]
B
Upon arriving at Gary's home, they were greeted by his father, who was waiting for them on the front steps.
- [09:56]
A
His dad's name is Roscoe. And so we get out the car, and Gary said, how long have you been waiting? He said, oh, I just got here. Very sweet man. Very nice man.
- [10:06]
C
The three entered the house, and Kania headed upstairs to the master bedroom to freshen up.
- [10:11]
B
Shortly after, Gary handed his father some cash to make a run to the store, leaving Gary downstairs alone and Kanya upstairs.
- [10:21]
A
And I hear Gary downstairs muttering and talking. And then I hear Gary say, hey, isn't that the same car that we just passed?
- [10:32]
C
Kanye moved to the bedroom window to look outside. That's when she spotted the same burgundy sedan that had passed just a few minutes earlier.
- [10:41]
B
Only this time, it didn't keep driving. The car came to a sudden stop directly across from Gary's home.
- [10:49]
A
At first, I see two black men coming across the street fast, a third one. So it's like two are walking side by side, and one is kind of lingering in the back, but they're coming fast. One of the guys has, like, a briefcase, and then they get inside the garage and I hear talking and I'm still looking out the window, and then I hear the garage close. So I didn't know what to think.
- [11:16]
C
As Kanya said, Gary often had friends coming and going, so an unannounced visit was not completely out of the ordinary. And Gary had said that he had plans to meet a friend.
- [11:26]
B
But while she couldn't make out what they were saying, the conversation downstairs had a distinctly tense edge of an escalating conflict.
- [11:36]
C
Then she heard footsteps on the stairs approaching the door to the bedroom.
- [11:41]
A
So I hear the creak and I kind of brace myself because Gary was always joking, always playing practical jokes, always laughing. And I knew I wasn't feeling well, and I said, oh, he's gonna try to scare me. Something to just get me out of the funk that I was in. I felt it.
- [12:00]
B
But this was no practical joke.
- [12:04]
A
All I heard is a voice that I was not familiar with, and it said, I turned my head and I looked up and there was a gun in my face.
- [12:24]
C
In July of 1995, in Moreno Valley, California, 23 year old Kanya Lofton had just returned from dinner with her boyfriend, Gary Williams, when three men entered his large house on Mansfield Lane.
- [12:39]
B
Within minutes, one of them had burst into the master bedroom holding a semiautomatic TEC9 machine gun and pressed it to Kania's head. And I just have to say, her memory of the event, her recall of specifics is astounding.
- [12:55]
A
And I remember it being cold because he put it to my temple and he told me, don't move and don't scream. And I said, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. And I kind of put my hands up, and the first thing I said was, where's Gary? Where's Gary? And he said, don't scream. Come here.
- [13:14]
C
The man ordered Kania onto the bed. And it was then that she recognized him as Gary's friend Bucci, the same man Gary had said he was planning to meet to get the gun, a gun that was for, in his words, protection.
- [13:28]
A
And I sat on the edge of Gary's bed and Buci was in front of me, and I just focused on him. And I said, I thought you were Gary's friend.
- [13:40]
B
The man she knew as Bucci demanded she stay quiet as the voices downstairs rose to shout. But something in his demeanor told Kania that while he was holding the gun, he. He was not the one calling the shots.
- [13:56]
A
He said, that's my cousin, he said, and that n told me that if I don't help him get Gary, that He was gonna kill me and my new baby. And I said, well, are you gonna kill me? I said, can you please promise that you're not gonna kill me?
- [14:15]
C
His vague promises to not hurt her didn't give her any comfort. Kania could hear the man downstairs screaming at Gary and demanding money. And then, only seconds later, there were more footsteps on the stairs.
- [14:28]
A
I hear him before he gets there. He's shorter, he's dark skinned. He has, like, a cigarette that he had smoked and put out hanging in his mouth, and he was running the show.
- [14:43]
B
The man Bucci had already identified as his cousin was armed and angry, and he was intent on getting what he came for.
- [14:53]
A
He picked up a lamp and snatched the cord out of the lamp, told me to put my hands behind my back and tied my hands up. I had a gold necklace on with a diamond G that Gary had given me. He snatched that off my neck, took the earrings out of my ear, and tied my hands up.
- [15:14]
C
And then he began threatening Kania with horrific acts of sexual violence, making it clear that he meant to use that assault as a form of torture and coercion and also just because that's what he wanted to do.
- [15:30]
A
I started crying, and I said, I have a son. I said, I'm pregnant. I said, please don't do this to us, please. And he said, this bitch thinks I'm playing.
- [15:43]
B
This was not a typical burglary. It was a targeted home invasion. And the men with guns weren't acting like thieves looking for jewelry. They were there for something more.
- [15:56]
C
Over and over, they demanded Kania tell them where Gary's money was hidden.
- [16:01]
A
He said it over and over again. I ain't playing. This thinks I'm playing. Where's the money? I said, what money? I said, hold on. I said, gary did tell me he hid some money in the vacuum. And so he said, where is it? And I said, he keeps the vacuum in the spare room. They went to the vacuum and they tore the vacuum up. Dust was everywhere, and I guess Gary had moved it.
- [16:27]
B
When you hear her say that out loud, it hits differently. Those agonizing seconds, her thoughts in real time that her home is no longer safe. And you can only imagine what's racing through her mind in those seconds. The uncertainty, the dread, the quiet questions of what happens next. Their threats of sexual torture. So it's incredible that Kanye was able to keep her wits about her while the men frantically searched for money they believed was hidden in the house.
- [17:00]
C
In fact, while they were out of the room, she was actually maneuvering the Lamp cord around her wrists to free her hands. But when the men returned, it was clear that they were running out of patience.
- [17:12]
A
They bring Gary upstairs. I'm like, gary, please just tell him where the money is. Tell him where the money is. They have his hands tied up behind his back. I look at Gary. His left eye is swollen and is swollen shut. But in the crease of the eye where your lids meet, your lid meets the bottom, I see blood.
- [17:37]
B
Gary's swagger had drained from his body as he begged the men to leave Kania alone. Instead, they pushed Gary to his stomach on the floor of the second floor landing.
- [17:51]
C
It was then that Gary's father, Roscoe Williams, returned from the store and began knocking at the front door.
- [17:58]
A
So Roscoe is knocking at the door and he's yelling Gary's name. Gary. Gary. Guy number three snatches him in the house, opens the door and says, don't say anything or we're gonna blow your head off. Called him an old man and brought him upstairs.
- [18:16]
B
Gary's father was forced to the floor next to his son. Their arms and legs were bound with duct tape.
- [18:24]
A
Gary says, I'll tell you where the money is. And so he tells him to go in his room right by the bathroom. It was a floating shelf and it was a cologne bag. He had shoved the money in there. Rob goes and gets it. He takes the wad of money and he puts it it all in his pocket.
- [18:43]
C
But the man Buchi was now calling Rob, the man who was in charge was not satisfied with the money he found in the cologne bag. And he made it clear he wasn't leaving until he had gotten what he had come for.
- [18:55]
A
And then he comes back and he grabs me and he says, yeah, the thinks I'm playing. He said, let me. Let me take her in the bathroom. He takes me in the bathroom. I said, I'm putting pregnant and I'm bleeding. Please don't do this.
- [19:10]
B
He then forced Kania to undress and pushed her into the bathroom.
- [19:16]
A
The bathroom light is on and I'm staring at him in his face. And then I just focused on. I see a teardrop tattooed by his eye. And he still has the cigarette, but in his mouth. And then I was just fixated on my mom and dad coming home and finding me dead. Gary had broke down crying. He said, man, I'll get you some more money. Just give me about another week. He said, I'll get it and I'll give it all to you. Don't do her like that, man. Don't do her like that.
- [19:50]
C
According to Kania, she could hear the phone in the kitchen ringing, and she realized it just might provide her only chance to escape the terrifying inevitable.
- [20:01]
A
Gary had been on house arrest, and he had a monitor on his ankle and a monitor at the kitchen sink. When they called, he had to answer the phone, go in front of the monitor and show his face. And so at the time that they're snatching me around, the landline is ringing off the hood. And I kept saying, if he doesn't answer that, the police is going to come. They're coming because he's on house arrest.
- [20:30]
B
Now realizing that they might be running out of time, the man they were calling Rob gave Boochie an order to, quote, do the old man. They were going to kill Gary's father, Roscoe Williams.
- [20:44]
A
Gary just cried. He said, but, ma', am, ma', am, but that's my dad. That's my dad. Gary's dad was so calm, he lifted up his head and said, son, don't worry about me. I've lived my life. And his voice did not crack. Everything in an instant just started to happen. They had the trash bag and they wrapped it around Gary's dad's face. And I remember him squirming and like he was fighting for air. And then they did the same for Gary.
- [21:22]
C
Kania was watching her boyfriend and his father fighting for their lives right in front of her, also fearing for her own life at the same time. But still, she managed to back herself into a spare bedroom. But her tormentor followed her. Nothing but violence in his eyes.
- [21:39]
A
He steps over a few things, grabs me, puts me in a chokehold, and I don't remember anything else. Everything went black around me. As I'm waking up, my body was, like, shaking, and I just remember hearing, like, the sound of, like, a train, like a train engine. And I saw like a. Everything was dark, but I saw, like a white light far out, far, far out.
- [22:18]
B
Kania Lofton had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but she was now on the floor, her attacker straddling her body.
- [22:28]
A
So I'm waking up, and I feel the warmth, like warmness all over my face, my neck. And I start fighting, and I'm like, he's cutting me. And I remember feeling the pricks of the knife. And somebody said, that knife isn't working. And they went and got a different knife.
- [22:53]
C
She had woken up to one of the men pressing a knife against her throat. She could feel the blood already starting to run onto her neck.
- [23:02]
B
It was hard to believe the nightmare she was going through, it was like she was witnessing her own attempted murder.
- [23:10]
A
And I remember just grabbing the knife with my hand, saying, please don't kill us. Please just leave. You guys got the money? I was kicking.
- [23:19]
C
Incredibly, Kanya remained conscious throughout this part of the attack, and her recollection of the details is absolutely devastating.
- [23:29]
A
I remember them switching knives, and they switched to the serrated knife, and it was. I remember it tearing my skin. I could feel it tearing. And I remember grabbing the knife, and I remember Rob saying, this is trying to fight me. Don't fight me. And I just was like, just leave us alone. You got the money. Please don't do that. And the more he tore, the more I bled.
- [23:58]
B
Kania had suffered a deep wound to her neck that had cut into her trachea. She was bleeding profusely and likely just minutes from death.
- [24:09]
A
And then I remember feeling tired, like I couldn't fight anymore. And I rolled onto my side, and I remember saying, I'm dying. I'm dying. And at that moment, I see lights, like headlights, white lights. And they were flickering. I was dizzy. I was weak. And I remember them saying, Cause that thing has been calling. That could be the police.
- [24:36]
C
A ringing phone and car headlights from the street caused all three men to hurry back downstairs. And Kania was left bleeding on the floor next to the unmoving bodies of her boyfriend, Gary Williams, and his father, Roscoe.
- [24:51]
A
I hear gurgling. I didn't know where it was coming from. I remember seeing all three of their feet run down the stairs in a panic because the. The lights was flashing. And I turn over onto my knees and I try to help. I pull a plastic bag from Roscoe. I push Gary onto his side, and I look at him. I didn't see any injuries to Gary,
- [25:19]
B
but neither man was breathing. And her own breath was labored and wet, her severed throat making gurgling sounds with every breath.
- [25:32]
C
Incredibly, Kania summoned the strength to get to her feet and stagger to the bedroom.
- [25:38]
A
I go, and I try to look at my neck because I know that I'm hurt, but I. I don't feel anything. And so I go to Gary's room, and I did shut the door, and I locked the. The door. Gary had a tall white dresser that was close to the door, and I did my best to push that dresser in front of the door. And I picked up Gary's phone in his room, and I remember dialing 91 1. I put the phone to my ear, and it was the most defeating thing that I heard. Because it said, your call is important and don't hang up. They were busy.
- [26:21]
B
And to her horror, her attackers had not yet fled the scene.
- [26:27]
A
I knew that they had came back inside the house because we had the watch feature from, like, the alarm system that wasn't hooked up, but the watch feature told me it said, beep, beep,
- [26:40]
C
beep, beep, and they were coming back up the stairs. Trapped in the bedroom, Kanya had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
- [26:50]
A
So when I heard the beep, beep, beep, beep, and then I heard the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, like running up the stairs. I set the phone down. I didn't hang it up because I needed help. And I go over to the window.
- [27:03]
B
The bedroom was on the second floor. There was no safe escape except out the window.
- [27:10]
C
She was barefoot, undressed from the waist down, and had a deep knife wound to her neck. But the wolves were literally at the door.
- [27:19]
A
I heard, cuz the bitch is gone, the bitch is gone. And I, at that moment, I was on autopilot. I slid the window open. I remember taking both of my hands. I pushed the screen out. I lifted my success to kind of jump up. It was one of those high bedroom windows. I jumped up. Now I'm on the roof of the garage and I hear them kicking the door in to the bedroom. I didn't have any shoes on and I just looked at the grass on the side and I remember letting my feet feel the edge of the roof and I shut my eyes and I said, kania, just do it. And I jumped.
- [28:01]
B
Kania landed on the grass beside the house and. And she knew the men could be right behind her, so she began running for her life.
- [28:10]
A
I think I ran two houses down. And then I turned and I climbed over a fence. I was in someone's backyard and I climbed over another fence and I wanted help. I needed help.
- [28:25]
C
She screamed. She ran, jumping gates and fences from backyard to backyard. She banged on windows and doors looking for help, all the while bleeding from the wound to her neck and also
- [28:37]
B
thinking her pursuers could be right behind her or waiting around the next turn. It was truly something out of a nightmare or a horror movie.
- [28:47]
A
I'm out of breath, and when I'm breathing, I'm feeling something like air is coming out of my throat and not my mouth.
- [28:54]
C
And this is one of those moments that leaves me in total awe of Kanye's presence of mind, really, throughout this absolutely terrifying and violent attack. So she took off her own shirt and pressed it to her neck. And then she is at that moment holding her fingers to the wound, saving her own life.
- [29:14]
B
Finally, Kania comes across a shocked neighbor who offers to help, handing her a towel to wrap around her waist. Seconds later, Kania could hear the approaching sirens as she staggered towards the middle of the street.
- [29:31]
A
And then I remember looking in the distance, and you know how you can see the glare of the lights, the blue and red? I saw them. And I remember before they even got to me, I laid in the middle of the street. Like, I just laid there.
- [29:46]
C
Her will to live had helped her escape. Her would be killers, but now her body had finally given out.
- [29:54]
A
I was exhausted. I remember, like, just being wobbly and still dizzy. And I felt like, they're here, they're here. I just laid down because I couldn't do anymore.
- [30:08]
B
Multiple patrol cars had surrounded the block. A Riverside county sheriff's deputy arrived just before 11pm and found Konia on the street covered in blood.
- [30:20]
A
The first officer that got to me, I said, go to 23107 Mansfield Lane. I said, they're upstairs. They're trying to kill him. They're upstairs.
- [30:30]
C
The deputy could see that Kania was severely wounded. So while other law enforcement stormed into Gary's house, he remained by her side.
- [30:40]
A
He says, can you do me a favor? Can you remove that from your neck? I need to know how bad you're hurt. And when I took my shirt away, he looked, and then he just hurried up and turned his head away. And I started crying. He said, just hold my hand. He said, I have paramedics coming. And he's kneeling down on the ground near me. And that's when I heard we have a double homicide on his radio. And I started screaming, and I said, no, no, please tell me it's not true. And he scrambled. I remember him scrambling to turn it down. And I remember him saying, we still have you here. He said, and you're gonna hold my hand, and I'm not gonna let it go. I'm gonna hold your hand. And I said, promise me, Just don't let my hand go. And he said, I will.
- [31:36]
B
But of course, without getting Kanye into an ambulance or allowing paramedics to render immediate aid, it was likely that she would not survive.
- [31:46]
A
I was screaming. I just became unglued. I said, you promised me. And he said, I. I gotta drive my car back. I said, no, you promised me. And so there was a firefighter that got off the engine, and he said, can we swap? You know, am I good enough? I said, well, come on, let's do it. And he rode in the paramedics with me to the hospital. And then the officer, he came running in there, out of breath, Kanye back. And throughout my whole procedure of them assessing me, sewing my hand up, he was there. He never let my hand go.
- [32:27]
C
Kania was rushed into emergency surgery while law enforcement surrounded the hospital.
- [32:33]
A
They notified my sisters and the squad comes, everybody comes from everywhere. And they had the hospital on lockdown because, you know, Rod and Bucci, obviously I wasn't meant to get away, but they said that my carotid artery was visible, it just didn't hit it. They thought they were going to have to transfuse me, but luckily, like with, you know, lots of IV fluids and things like that, that they didn't have to do that.
- [33:00]
B
Sadly, 28 year old Gary Williams and his father, 55 year old Roscoe Williams, did not survive the attack.
- [33:10]
A
I remember wanting the world to stop. I remember wanting everything to be on pause. Yet when I looked up at the news, you know, it was top news story. And I saw them, the news, I saw them bringing Gary's body out and his father's body out. And at that moment I knew that, you know, time was still ticking, even though I didn't want it to. And I was real like upset because I felt like I wasn't being told the truth. Because they said that, you know, Gary Williams and Roscoe Williams, you know, were found dead at the scene. They said there was a woman in the house in her 20s that is now clinging to life at a local hospital. And then I was like, well, I still might die. I even asked, I said, why are they saying that, you know, I'm clinging to life? And they said, well, you know, we haven't caught the bad guys and we don't want them to know everything.
- [34:14]
C
So, Scott, obviously there's a million things we could talk about here, but just this one thing, right? I mean, she's in the hospital watching the news, watching a story about this attack that she's just lived through. But here, where she is hopefully recovering, being told that she' recovering to now hear on the news that she's barely clinging to life. I can just imagine the tailspin in her brain.
- [34:36]
B
I can't stop thinking about how confusing or how confused she must have been at that very moment. Imagine surviving something that was meant to kill you and then hearing your own life reduced to a line on, as you said, Ana Sega, local news. You know, that she was clinging to life, but of course, you know, you're still breathing and still trying to understand what just happened, It's a shock and fear that is certainly colliding all at one time. And, you know, she probably realized just how close she came to not being here at all.
- [35:07]
C
And while Kania continued recovering, soon autopsies were performed on the two men.
- [35:13]
B
Later, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies on Gary and Roscoe Williams determined that the men had died from blood loss from severe neck wounds.
- [35:24]
C
Kania had miraculously survived the vicious attack, but the truth was that her attempted killers were still at large, meaning that her life was still in danger.
- [35:34]
A
It was unreal. I had police officers sitting outside of my hospital room. They had me under an assumed name.
- [35:44]
B
Thankfully, Kania's son was safe with her sister. Her parents were notified, and her mother and father rushed to her bedside. After hearing about her ordeal, her father was particularly distraught.
- [35:58]
A
He really didn't calm down until he got to the hospital. And soon as he walked in, I just said, they killed Gary and they killed his dad. And that's all I could say. That's all I can get out.
- [36:14]
C
Konia was eventually transferred from Riverside Community Hospital to Riverside General for more treatment and recovery. And by that time, Michelle Amicone was on the case.
- [36:26]
A
On the way to the hospital, I was telling Michelle because she was driving me. I was like, also, do you think they can look at my leg? I said, I have this big. This knot. And I said, and it's hurting on the back of my leg that wasn't there. She says, okay, we'll tell the doctor when we get there. And then I show him. He goes, okay, I'm need you to turn on your stomach. He goes, I'm gonna have to cut this open. He says, I'm gonna numb it. And then he numbed it, and then he cut it open, and he pulled out the biggest piece of wood. I guess I got it from, you know, jumping over the gates. And a piece just got, you know, embedded in my skin. And it was in there for three days old had closed up. He pulled it out. Then I had stitches there as well as my neck, my shoulder. I had a bunch of cuts all over my hands. You know, they were defense wounds from grabbing the knife.
- [37:20]
B
After being admitted to Riverside General, investigators also administered a sexual assault kit. However, at this point, it had been a full three days after the attack.
- [37:32]
C
In that time, many of Kania's injuries had been cleaned, and she had even been bathed. Not ideal for getting any results from a sexual assault kit, which typically collects any foreign hair, fluid, or tissue. In fact, so far, there was no obvious physical evidence that one or more of the men had sexually assaulted her.
- [37:51]
A
And that's the thing. It's been. The burning question is if he raped me or not. I had to go use the restroom when I got to the hospital. And I just remembered feeling like something had happened to me down there. I just felt like it. And cleaning myself. I just. It was a burning question, but I didn't. I didn't know.
- [38:17]
B
All investigators had was Kania's account of the crime. An account which unfortunately included an unknown period of time when Kania was unconscious.
- [38:29]
C
But one thing that was clear was that this was a targeted and vicious home invasion. The fact that it was carried out by at least one man that was known to Kania's boyfriend, Gary, and the fact that they were willing to torture their victims in their search told police that this was not some random smash and grab robbery. Something else was definitely going on here.
- [38:51]
B
So what was it? Were the men who killed Gary and his father and attempted to kill Conyer looking for money that they were owed, money that they knew was there? Or was it truly just a vicious and violent fishing expedition?
- [39:06]
C
The answer came as a shock to police. Here's Michelle Amicone along with Kania.
- [39:12]
A
So within months, at least we had the motive for it. I feel like the getting away part was the easy part. Hell started after, right on.
- [39:26]
B
The next episode of Homicide360.
- [39:30]
A
What is going on? And he said, this happened right across the street from your house. I'm in the hospital and the FBI is coming to talk. I just was in awe, frankly. I just knew that, okay, we can't let anything happen to her. If I am dead and I am in hell, just give me a signal, because this cannot be my reality. My world was swirling around me. Unfortunately, the information that we were gathering and then giving back to Kania was just as shocking as the information that she was giving us.
- [40:06]
C
The information investigation was just heating up. So be sure to listen to part two of this story. Tune in next week for another new episode of Homicide360.
- [40:21]
B
Homicide360 is created and produced by Forsetti Media and Weinberger Media.
- [40:28]
C
Supervising producer is Walker Lamond. Managing editor is Kate Mack. Sabrina Sarai is production manager. Edited by Ali Sierrawa and Phil Jean Grande Original theme music by Trey Anderson. This episode was researched by DJ Ryder.