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I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

Released Saturday, 14th October 2023
 1 person rated this episode
I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

I SURVIVED: The Ninja in the Attic

Saturday, 14th October 2023
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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1:01

This

1:01

episode contains disturbing accounts

1:04

of extreme violence and sexual assault. Listener

1:07

discretion is advised. Also,

1:09

just another note about this episode. We

1:12

interviewed Ellen over Skype, so in parts

1:14

of her story, the quality drops a little bit.

1:17

Well, I mean, there's been a lot of bizarre

1:19

cases since mine. I

1:21

mean, you know the ninja in the attic.

1:23

You don't hear that all the time.

1:26

In 1986, Ellen lived with her husband

1:28

and two teenage children in Austin, Texas.

1:31

I was in the real estate business. It

1:34

was a safe place where

1:36

I lived, and I was really pretty

1:39

amazed that it all happened. And it was

1:41

a long hill, but at the same time, it wasn't. Troy

1:44

Wigley was wandering through her safe neighborhood

1:46

and would change Ellen's life forever.

1:53

This is I Survived, the podcast

1:55

where we talk to women who've lived through the worst

1:57

things imaginable.

1:59

tragic, messy, and wonderful

2:02

things that can happen after survival.

2:05

I'm Caitlin VanMall. Well

2:08

now he had attacked his brother-in-law

2:12

and so he hitchhiked to Austin. Somehow

2:14

I ended over where I live. He took

2:16

his doubtful bag and went over the low water

2:18

bridge and that just kind of leads up

2:21

to where my house was in the hills. And

2:24

apparently he was across

2:26

the street and he saw everybody

2:29

leave in the morning. And he ended

2:31

up getting in the house and hiding

2:33

in my attic and he stayed there for a couple

2:35

of days until he thought everybody was gone and then

2:38

surprised me. On

2:40

August 29th he came down from the

2:42

attic. Ellen's husband was playing

2:44

golf that day and her son was at school so

2:47

she was all alone in the house. I

2:49

got up, had a very busy day. I sat

2:52

around, read the newspaper, drank

2:54

coffee for a little while and then I decided

2:56

I better get moving. So

2:59

I went upstairs to where my bedroom was and

3:01

took a shower. Stepped out of the shower,

3:04

grabbed a towel, and as I

3:06

was walking from my shower to

3:08

my closet to get a rope, I

3:11

spotted a

3:12

man hiding in the corner

3:15

of my bathroom.

3:16

I couldn't believe what I saw. I saw

3:19

a man dressed in a ninja

3:22

suit. He

3:24

had black things

3:26

tied around his head. He had

3:28

a black outfit on and even

3:30

had gloves on his

3:32

hands. The only

3:34

thing that I could see was

3:36

just the skin around his eyes

3:39

and his eyes.

3:41

He had his right hand held

3:44

high up in the air and in

3:46

that hand was a big knife.

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I don't know

6:00

why, but I remember kind of laughing. And

6:02

then I rolled into thinking, well, this

6:04

is a nightmare. And I was telling myself, wake up,

6:07

wake up, wake up. He began

6:09

screaming at me to get on the floor, to get on the

6:11

floor. And we actually tuffled

6:13

a little bit. He had that big

6:15

knife in the right hand, but with a left hand,

6:17

he was pushing on me. And we

6:20

moved out of the bathroom, back into my bedroom.

6:23

And at that point was when he

6:26

backhanded me with his left hand and

6:28

knocked me to the floor. But I got

6:31

up again, and he backhanded

6:33

me again and knocked me to the floor. But

6:36

I was not going to stay on that floor.

6:39

I got up

6:41

and I went over and sat on the edge,

6:43

the bottom edge of my bed.

6:46

I began pulling my knees

6:48

up to my chest, wrapping

6:51

my arms around my knees, somehow to

6:53

kind of hide myself. Ellen

6:56

had just gotten out of the shower when he attacked.

6:58

So all she had on was a bath towel.

7:01

My feet were hanging off the edge of the

7:03

bed. And he took the

7:06

big knife that he had on his right

7:08

hand, and he dragged

7:10

it across my feet. I

7:13

didn't know what he meant, but

7:16

he said, I just want you to know

7:18

that my knives are

7:21

a lot sharper than your knives.

7:26

He bound Ellen's feet together and her

7:28

hands behind her back. He said, I

7:30

want you to put your head down. I

7:33

want you to look at your knees and don't

7:35

you raise your eyes up. In fact, you close

7:37

your eyes and you leave your

7:39

head like that until I tell you that

7:42

you can move. So I did. He

7:45

took off his mask

7:47

and he tied his mask on my

7:49

face so I could not see him.

7:52

And he said, you know what?

7:53

It's a shame you can't see me. I'm

7:56

half black and half white, and I

7:58

am a very handsome.

7:59

man.

8:01

After he tied his

8:04

mask on my face, he

8:06

just began walking, walking

8:08

and pacing. He began asking me

8:11

how much money I had,

8:13

how much money do you have in the bank, how

8:15

much money do you have at your office, you have

8:17

a beautiful house, you must have a lot

8:19

of money. I offered to drive him to

8:21

the bank and I could write

8:24

a check and he could get every single

8:26

penny out of the bank. I

8:28

said everything that I could think

8:31

of at the time to say, to

8:33

try and not

8:36

have him so angry with me and

8:38

he kept telling me, you're gonna have

8:41

a bad accident lady, a bad

8:43

accident. He

8:45

told me he'd been in my house for two days, he

8:48

told me about things that had gone on in my house

8:50

while he was there because he was in the attic and

8:52

he was listening to everything. He

8:55

knew my husband was going to play golf

8:58

and that he wouldn't be back until the middle of the afternoon.

9:00

He

9:02

knew my son was at school that day and

9:04

he wouldn't be home to the middle of the afternoon.

9:08

It was about that time that he told

9:10

me what he

9:11

was going to do to me next.

9:13

He was going to rape me. Those

9:15

weren't the words he used

9:18

but I remember begging him, I remember

9:20

crying and sobbing and begging

9:22

him, please don't do this. I'm

9:25

a Christian, please, please, please

9:27

don't do this. He told me

9:29

that no one would ever catch him.

9:33

It didn't matter what he did to me.

9:36

He cut the tape around my ankles and

9:39

he told me to get back on the bed.

9:41

I had a hard time

9:43

doing that. I didn't want to get back on the bed

9:46

but he kept yelling at me, get back on the bed, get

9:48

back on the bed

9:49

until my head was

9:51

near the top of the bed. I

9:54

was crying and then he raped

9:57

me.

11:12

the

12:00

one before her and he'd knock me over again.

12:03

The man was beating her in the head with a hammer

12:05

and stabbing her with the knife. And

12:08

then he stabbed me

12:09

two times in the back of my neck. Two

12:11

quick stabs in and out, in and out. The

12:14

next thing I knew he had taken

12:16

his knife and he was trying to stab

12:18

it through my skull, but

12:21

he couldn't. The knife wouldn't go

12:23

in. So he got his hammer

12:26

and he hammered his knife into my

12:28

skull. He may have hit

12:31

me in the head with a hammer again. I don't

12:33

know, but I will

12:35

never forget when

12:38

he wanted to get the knife out and he couldn't

12:40

get it out that he put his foot

12:42

on the top of my head and he shook

12:45

my head around like a rat doll as

12:48

he was trying to get that knife out of the top

12:50

of my head.

12:51

Ellen drifted in and

12:52

out of consciousness. There was some

12:54

time that passed after that. I didn't

12:57

know where he was. And I remember

12:59

that I turned my head to

13:02

look, but I could see back in my bedroom

13:05

and I saw him in there. He

13:07

was not in his outfit anymore. And

13:10

he screamed, put your head back down

13:12

again. And he came in and

13:15

he hit me in the head with that hammer

13:17

one more time.

13:20

Well, I knew he wanted me dead

13:22

and I didn't move after that.

13:24

He came over to me and pulled

13:27

my left hand up and he

13:29

was trying to get my wedding rings

13:31

off.

13:32

He couldn't get them off. And I remember

13:34

thinking, Oh my God, oh my God,

13:36

he's going to cut my fingers off. And I remember

13:38

thinking, God help me. And

13:41

God did her

13:43

wedding rings came off and he left

13:45

the room. I

13:46

was scared to move or even try

13:48

to move because I didn't know where he was, but

13:51

I was

13:51

so cold. I

13:55

had lost so much blood and

13:57

I knew I was going to die. I

14:00

knew I was going to die if I didn't get help. I

14:02

still didn't know if he was there. I

14:05

didn't know if he was going to pop out any minute

14:07

with his knives and hammer. I didn't

14:09

know. I just knew that my instinct

14:11

for survival was telling me

14:13

I had to get help.

14:16

Of course, I couldn't stand up.

14:19

And I remember that I tried

14:21

to pull myself along the floor. I

14:24

actually slithered out of my bathroom,

14:27

through my bedroom, and I

14:29

slid down a flight of stairs to the floor

14:31

below. She managed to get to

14:34

a phone, but couldn't really see from all the blood

14:36

and severe beatings to the head. From

14:38

muscle memory, she dialed her parents' number.

14:41

They lived about three minutes away and ran over

14:44

to Ellen's

14:44

house. I don't remember anything

14:46

after I made that telephone call.

14:51

Until I heard my father scream, when

14:54

he saw me on the floor.

14:57

It's hard to imagine getting that distress call from

14:59

someone you love.

15:01

It's even harder to imagine finding them covered

15:03

in blood,

15:04

naked, and unconscious on the floor. Ellen's

15:08

dad called 911.

15:09

I remember hearing

15:11

the EMS personnel

15:15

talking, and they said

15:17

they didn't think I was going to make it. I

15:22

couldn't say anything. But

15:25

I remember thinking to myself,

15:28

oh, you bet I'm going to make it. That

15:30

was the first time I knew absolutely I

15:34

was going to make it. This man was not

15:36

going to take my life. Before being

15:38

rushed to the hospital,

15:40

Ellen managed to tell police the name of her

15:42

attacker. They caught him that afternoon,

15:44

and I was

15:45

out of it that whole time. They

15:47

caught him at a local bank trying to cash the

15:49

checks that I'd written him.

15:51

She had emergency surgery and received

15:54

more than 600 stitches for

15:56

the stab wounds.

15:57

Once she was released from the hospital,

15:59

She actually had no trouble living in

16:02

the same house where her attack happened.

16:04

You know, the house didn't do it to me. He

16:06

did. It was okay. And

16:08

once he was gone, I felt safe

16:11

there again.

16:12

I did learn how to use

16:13

the very sophisticated system.

16:16

What

16:16

do you call it? Lock up your house? Alarm

16:18

system.

16:19

Ellen's sense of safety in her own home wasn't

16:21

compromised. But

16:22

that's not to say she wasn't tremendously

16:25

affected by the attack. I felt

16:27

like a throwaway person. I didn't think

16:29

anybody would ever

16:30

love me again.

16:32

I mean, I was hideous. My face

16:34

was distorted. You

16:36

know, my head was shaved.

16:38

I cried a long time.

16:40

I remember when I was going

16:41

to see my sister in Houston and

16:44

I was driving in the car and I was just overwhelmed

16:46

with grief at what happened to me. I would

16:49

just burst into tears. I cried all the way there.

16:51

I couldn't even wait to be with her.

16:54

I had had great parents, by the

16:57

way, at the time, and

16:58

my sister. And they

17:00

gave me so much

17:01

support. You know, relevant

17:03

lotion and all the scars in my

17:05

head. I mean, so much support. My mother is actually

17:07

still alive and she's 98.

17:09

She also sought professional help through a counselor

17:12

and eventually through support groups at her local

17:14

rape crisis center. And listening to

17:16

those

17:16

other survivors really

17:19

helped me a whole lot. I knew I could do this.

17:21

You know, I needed to be. I needed

17:24

to do this for

17:25

my family, my mother and father. I mean,

17:27

my gosh, it affected

17:30

them terribly. Of

17:32

course, I think the thing that I would like to

17:34

tell everybody is that no matter what happened to you,

17:36

talk about it. And

17:38

if it's a terrible crime, sometimes

17:40

your parents don't want to hear it or your friends don't

17:42

want to hear it anymore. Find avenues

17:45

to tell your story. Every time

17:47

you tell it, no matter how many years, you

17:49

still heal a little bit.

17:51

And that's why I keep doing it.

17:53

And I probably, I mean,

17:55

I'm 75. So

17:57

I'll do it as long as I can. Her

18:02

attacker was brought to trial in just three

18:04

months. Ellen still hadn't fully

18:06

recovered from her injuries when she testified.

18:09

And I had had a lot of

18:11

work on my head, and my head was

18:13

shaped because of all the blows. They had to sew

18:15

them up.

18:17

I was real nervous because

18:19

it was the first

18:19

time I'd seen him, except in

18:22

my house. And I remember

18:24

he kept staring at me, and my

18:27

sister was alive then, and of

18:28

course the rest of my family.

18:29

And they kept saying, don't look at him.

18:32

Look at me. Look at me. And so I started

18:34

doing that.

18:35

Then they brought somebody in dressed in a ninja

18:38

suit

18:38

just to see if I recognized it, because

18:41

he'd had it when they had arrested him. It was in his

18:43

backpack

18:44

or in his double bag.

18:46

It was a powerful position

18:49

to have the chance to testify

18:52

and tell your story. I'm going to tell you.

18:56

I'm Lola Blanc. And I'm Megan Elizabeth. And

18:58

we're the hosts of Trust Me. Are you prone to

19:00

mental shortcuts and errors in your judgment? Find

19:02

out on our recent episode with Amanda

19:05

Knox

19:05

and Christopher Robinson. Those are the most

19:07

closely examined three seconds of my life. In

19:11

order to show me as someone who didn't care

19:13

that her roommate had been murdered.

19:14

Prior to all that is the media selection

19:16

bias. Which little chunks of reality

19:19

get looped and handed to you?

19:20

Get new episodes of Trust Me every Wednesday on

19:22

Podcast One, or wherever you get your podcasts.

19:27

Though Ellen had already testified by the time Wiggly took

19:29

the stand, she wasn't allowed to

19:31

hear his testimony.

19:32

What bothered

19:34

me the most is the fact

19:37

that, and I didn't even realize this at all, that

19:41

this would happen, that when they have the trial

19:44

and they put the defendant on the stand, that I had to leave

19:46

the room. I had

19:48

to go sit in the hall. Of course,

19:51

you know, I had my whole family in there, and they were coming out

19:53

and telling

19:53

me what he was saying.

19:55

So it ended up working out, but I

19:57

just thought, why do that to the victim?

19:58

Troy Wiggly

20:01

was found guilty of aggravated robbery

20:03

and sentenced to life in prison on November 20,

20:05

1986, just seven days shy of his 20th birthday.

20:10

The defense attorney asked for moderate

20:12

sentencing, to which ADA

20:14

Paul Womack replied,

20:16

was Ellen treated moderately?

20:18

There wasn't a reason that he should get the death

20:20

penalty. And even though I've

20:22

been involved in the system a long time, I'm

20:25

not a big believer in the death penalty.

20:27

In fact, sometimes I think

20:29

that the inmates in there

20:31

that have been in there for so long would rather die

20:33

than spend the rest of their life in prison. So,

20:36

no, I never wanted that.

20:38

So I thought it was, yeah, life

20:40

was real good. I

20:42

didn't have to be afraid of them anymore.

20:45

That's what I

20:45

used to tell other people

20:47

who I talked to, really didn't want to

20:49

go to trial and all.

20:51

I didn't tell my

20:52

story. I just told them that

20:54

it's really powerful

20:55

sitting there, facing that accuser

20:57

and knowing that you're going to be part

20:59

of getting him

21:01

out of the public and going somewhere

21:03

where you can't hurt anybody else. It

21:06

was pretty amazing.

21:08

It's just I keep having to fight him

21:10

being

21:10

on parole.

21:12

But he's still in.

21:13

Wiggly was first eligible for parole in 2006. He

21:17

was last reviewed for parole in February

21:19

of 2018, and he was denied

21:21

due to the nature of his offense. His

21:23

next parole review is currently scheduled for 2021.

21:27

Ellen had a great support system in her family,

21:30

but she found that those in her community didn't

21:32

really know how to handle what happened to her.

21:35

Well,

21:35

to me,

21:36

avoid telling somebody that's been through

21:38

what I did. Everything happens for a reason.

21:41

I think that's a terrible thing to say.

21:43

When I finally got out,

21:45

I was having to wear a wig, but I

21:47

could go to a store or

21:49

a drug store

21:50

or anything people that I knew would avoid me

21:52

because they didn't know what to say.

21:54

I felt like I was walking around this big big R

21:56

on my forehead.

21:57

And all they needed to say is come in and hug

21:59

me. and say, I'm so sorry. That's all.

22:04

Ellen started speaking publicly about her attacks.

22:07

This led to volunteering and victim services,

22:09

which led to Ellen being appointed by Governor

22:12

Ann Richards to the Board of Criminal Justice.

22:15

I was the first victim of crime on that board,

22:18

and I was on it, I guess you'd call it, for six

22:20

years, a non-paid position,

22:23

part-time position, and I turned into a

22:26

non-paid full-time position. And

22:29

I went a lot of places. I went to

22:31

all prisons, I visited programs,

22:34

I was

22:34

able to start a program of

22:36

my own that I thought was important.

22:39

In 1995, the Ellen Halbert Unit

22:42

was opened in Burnett, Texas. On

22:44

the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's website,

22:47

they call it a Substance Abuse Felony

22:49

Punishment Facility, which basically

22:52

means it's rehab in prison.

22:54

I got people to vote on it because there

22:56

wasn't anything in the area, any

22:58

kind of facility one way or the other, and

23:01

also because I knew it was going to be a women's

23:03

facility, and women really needed

23:05

another treatment facility.

23:07

Ellen still visits and tells the women their

23:09

story. And I tell

23:10

them my story, and I always tell

23:12

them that I wasn't anything special, that

23:15

women can do what they can do,

23:17

women can do anything I can do.

23:19

Because most of those women have

23:22

been victims of crimes,

23:24

sometimes as bad as mine, to

23:27

get in there. It's usually,

23:29

you know, something to do with

23:30

drugs and alcohol, of course, that

23:31

they have done. And then I'll sit

23:34

in a group with them, because then they break into groups,

23:37

and I'll sit in a group with them

23:38

every time I go, and they can ask me

23:40

a few more questions then, but most of the time I just

23:42

sit there to listen to them. The work

23:44

she was doing on the Board of Criminal Justice

23:46

was on a voluntary basis,

23:48

and her successes there led her to being offered

23:50

a job as the head of victim services in

23:53

Travis County.

23:54

I couldn't do anything about

23:55

crime, but I could do

23:57

something about working

23:59

with victims.

24:00

And so it just came when I went

24:02

off the board of criminal justice my last

24:04

year there. I was offered

24:06

this job as head of victim services.

24:09

It was hard work,

24:11

but to see, to make somebody

24:13

happy who'd been

24:14

through such hell or lost a child or lost

24:16

anybody,

24:17

it was very healing work for them and

24:19

for me too.

24:20

Even today, I still

24:22

go into prisons as part of a

24:24

Bridges to Life

24:25

program.

24:26

It's for offenders in prison and

24:28

it's where victims come in and tell their story. And

24:31

they always love my story. The men's prisons,

24:33

they just come up and shake my hand and hug

24:36

me. And

24:37

they ask a lot of questions in the end.

24:39

Like, what did it do to your family?

24:41

If I haven't covered that, what

24:43

happened with your marriage? And I said, well,

24:45

it didn't survive it. And I always tell

24:47

them, I can come back and spend the whole night

24:50

talking to you about that. And that marriage

24:52

and how my husband handled

24:54

it.

24:55

Well, we tried to go to counseling about it

24:57

and counselors

24:59

wouldn't work with us because he's

25:01

so unbending, it's kind of like

25:04

he was a pretty narcissistic guy. He

25:06

was funny and fun to be around, but pretty

25:08

narcissistic. And he'd say, you know, if you

25:10

just listened to me, you'd get over this. You

25:12

know, he just

25:14

didn't have a clue

25:16

how to support somebody who'd been through something

25:18

like that.

25:19

I ended up

25:20

leaving him and moving into another house,

25:23

but I couldn't have him still in my life.

25:26

I check on him now and then, but I've

25:28

been in this marriage 27 years. So

25:31

I married a really nice guy.

25:33

Ellen met her current husband through a group called

25:35

People Against Violent Crime.

25:37

My husband had a friend that he used to play in

25:39

a band with who was also in the group.

25:42

And he brought my husband to the group.

25:45

And he went around and

25:47

he looked at me and he said, this is an enjilade.

25:50

And we

25:51

kind of connected and then he asked me out

25:54

and

25:54

we dated for a year and then lived

25:56

together for a year. And then we

25:58

got married and.

25:59

And that's been 27 years.

26:01

And he's

26:04

easy

26:04

like I am. And I think that's so important.

26:07

He has kind of the same goals and

26:09

the same

26:10

ways of handling things. And

26:13

so he's been a treasure

26:15

to me. He's hearing me say

26:17

this, you know that.

26:19

Did you hear me, honey? Yeah,

26:22

I heard you, babe.

26:30

Part of the job was to mediate as part

26:32

of their Restorative

26:33

Justice Program. It brings

26:35

victims and offenders together, if they're both willing,

26:38

to help the victim get some answers and for

26:40

the offender to see the

26:41

impact of their actions.

26:43

I would have them in my

26:45

office. And we would just talk

26:47

to each other.

26:48

And the victim would ask questions

26:50

about the crime that they never get, never

26:52

able to ask on the stand, you know, much

26:55

more sensitive. Tell them how it made them feel.

26:58

And the offender would say, I'm

27:00

so sorry I did that to you. And sometimes it

27:02

would make them cry knowing what they had done

27:04

to somebody and just never even realized

27:06

it. Because the court system, sometimes

27:09

they plead these cases. So

27:11

the victim sometimes doesn't ever have a

27:13

chance to even say anything. So we just

27:15

talk about the crime. We go around and talk about

27:17

the crime. And we'd

27:18

ask the offender questions.

27:21

And he'd tell the truth. And I'll

27:23

tell you, some of those victims were

27:26

ready to take that offender home with them because

27:28

they were so sweet. It brings healing

27:30

in a way that the courtroom never did.

27:33

Ellen really believes in

27:35

Restorative Justice. But both the

27:37

victim and the offender have to be willing

27:39

to talk and make it a positive

27:41

experience.

27:42

To make sure the meetings don't do more harm than

27:45

good, a mediator will talk to both

27:47

victim and offender beforehand. Ellen

27:49

started down this road but hasn't met

27:51

with her attacker. He wanted

27:53

me to. He wrote a letter once. And they

27:55

had it over at

27:57

Victim Services at the state.

27:59

And I went over.

27:59

there and they read it to me.

28:02

And it was kind of like, I'm so

28:04

sorry I did that to

28:05

you because it sure caused

28:06

me a lot of problems. But

28:08

I thought, well,

28:10

maybe that's not what he should say, but

28:12

I wouldn't mind having the chance to talk

28:14

to him.

28:15

But I sent somebody to prison to talk

28:17

to him first, the mediator

28:19

that would be using and there he

28:21

never said anything.

28:23

Like they said, why did you try and kill her?

28:25

And he said, because she's on my face. And they

28:28

said, well, why did you rape her? And he said, because I

28:30

wanted to.

28:31

Now, what am I going to learn going to talk to

28:33

him? So I decided I wasn't going

28:35

to put myself through that.

28:37

Ellen is now retired and takes care

28:39

of her 98 year old mother. She's

28:41

still speaking about her attack and says she's

28:44

doing great.

28:45

I found out how strong I am. I

28:47

found out that I can conquer anything.

28:50

And I think telling my story to

28:53

men and women,

28:55

they just can't believe that I came out of it. And

28:57

I'm talking to them about it. So yes,

28:59

good things did come out. But I wouldn't want to go through

29:01

it again for that. But

29:04

very good things did come out of it.

29:06

An update since this episode first aired. Troy

29:09

Wigley was denied parole in May of 2021.

29:12

His parole will be reviewed again in 2024.

29:16

And

29:18

I just think that which does not

29:20

kill you will make you stronger. I am

29:23

so much stronger than I was even before. And

29:25

I've really enjoyed feeling that way. To

29:35

speak to someone at the National Sexual

29:37

Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-6680.

29:38

You can also live chat with someone

29:41

at rain.org.

29:49

The

29:52

link is right at the top of the page. I'm

29:55

Caitlin VanMalle, host and senior producer.

29:58

Our audio engineer is Kelly Cremick.

30:00

Our producer is Scott Brody and

30:02

our executive producer is Ted Butler. I

30:05

Survived was originally produced by NHNZ.

30:08

To hear more I Survived,

30:09

please subscribe, rate, and

30:11

review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

30:15

To hear more, please subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

30:25

Two sisters, one a respected

30:27

TV producer Jill Blackstone and

30:29

the other Wendy. She was disabled,

30:32

nearly blind and deaf, and Jill had devoted

30:34

herself to taking care of Wendy. Jill

30:36

was her best friend, her sister,

30:39

her everything. But the sister bond was

30:41

shattered when Wendy and some of

30:43

the sisters'

30:43

rescue dogs were found dead

30:46

in a garage next to a top-level

30:48

barbecue grill. Jill says accidental

30:50

carbon monoxide poisoning killed everyone.

30:53

Police do not believe her.

30:54

Police arrested Jill Blackstone for

30:57

the murder of her sister. Investigators think it

30:59

was staged to look like an accident. Who

31:01

will

31:01

you believe, especially now that a

31:03

secret

31:04

source has come forward with evidence never

31:06

made public before? Jill was a good producer.

31:09

There's no doubt about that, but would she

31:11

produce murder is the question.

31:13

Season 2 of Bad Bad Thing, The Blackstone

31:16

Sisters, available now wherever you

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