Talk about a close call! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining twenty people who survived attacks by some of the world’s most famous killers.
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00:00I'm the only survivor."
00:01Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're examining 20 people who survived attacks by some of
00:06the world's most famous killers.
00:08At the beginning, I did think I was going to die.
00:12Donette Wilt
00:13Survived, Christopher Wilder
00:15The Beauty Queen killer embarked on a cross-country killing trip in early 1984, abducting at
00:20least 12 women and killing eight of them.
00:23Wilder eventually made his way onto the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, and it was while he was
00:27on it that he abducted Donette Wilt.
00:28When they reached his car, Wilder drew his pistol and forced Donette to get in.
00:33Wilt was at the Southlake Mall in Merrillville, Indiana when she was kidnapped by Wilder and
00:37sexually assaulted.
00:39After making their way into New York, Wilder took Wilt to a secluded area, stabbed her
00:43twice, and left her for dead.
00:45As he began to drive away, the fear that Donette Wilt might still be alive seized him.
00:50Luckily, Wilt was resourceful and survived the attack, eventually making her way to the
00:55road and flagging down a truck driver.
00:57He took her to a nearby hospital, and she survived after receiving life-saving surgery.
01:02Thanks to Wilt's testimony, the FBI now pinned Wilder in the Northeast, still driving the
01:07Mercury Cougar he had stolen from Terry Walden.
01:10Felicity Nightingale
01:11Survived, Fred West
01:13One of England's most notorious serial killers, Fred West killed at least 12 women, including
01:18his own daughter, Heather.
01:19And you can see that they slowly but surely crafted this into a refined, scavenging, predatory,
01:27stalking family, a sort of unit that could, as it were, take people off the streets very,
01:36very efficiently.
01:38In April of 1980, after West had already killed most of his victims, he picked up a hitchhiker
01:43named Felicity Nightingale.
01:45After deriding her for hitchhiking, West invited her to stay the night with his family, claiming
01:49that it would be dark soon.
01:51Luckily, she refused, but her defensive behavior caused West to grow irate.
01:56Despite his explosive temper, he eventually let Nightingale out of the car, and she made
02:00her way home by other means.
02:02Later, when reading about West's crimes in the paper, she noticed that he was the man
02:07that gave her a ride all those years ago.
02:09On the morning of the 24th of February, 1994, a police search team knocked at the door of
02:1525 Cromwell Street and set in motion an investigation that would stun the world.
02:21The murderous career of Fred West was about to come to an end.
02:25Cindy Paulson survived Robert Hansen
02:28Robert Hansen is thought to have kidnapped women, taken them into the Alaskan wilderness,
02:32and hunted them with an automatic rifle.
02:34He killed at least 17 women throughout the 70s and early 80s, but he was finally caught
02:40thanks to the efforts of one Cindy Paulson.
02:42We found her in handcuffs with very little clothes on.
02:45She was real credible.
02:46She was very scared, she was very frightened, and she told us her story.
02:52Hansen had kidnapped Paulson and claimed he was taking her to his remote cabin, presumably
02:56to hunt and kill her.
02:58But while Hansen was distracted loading his plane with supplies, Paulson escaped and ran
03:03for it, eventually reaching the safety of a passing truck.
03:06She was later interviewed by police and testified against Hansen.
03:10With her testimony, police were able to secure a warrant and search Hansen's property, which
03:15eventually led to his arrest.
03:17The interrogation room was ready for him.
03:19The goal was to keep him off balance, hoping to elicit a confession and avoid a lengthy
03:25legal case.
03:26Carl Stotter survived Dennis Nielsen
03:29Scottish killer Dennis Nielsen was active between 1978 and 1983, killing between 12
03:35and 15 young men.
03:36In May of 1982, he picked up 21-year-old Carl Stotter at a Camden pub.
03:41But when he crossed paths with Nielsen in May 1982, Nielsen had already murdered 13
03:46young men.
03:47And in fact, Carl would be one of the few to make it out of his flat alive.
03:52Nielsen took Stotter home, where he proceeded to pass out.
03:55When he awoke, he was being drowned in Nielsen's bathtub.
03:58But Stotter survived, and Nielsen nursed him back to health.
04:01Nielsen told Stotter that he had suffocated in his sleeping bag and that he put him in
04:05the bath to resuscitate him.
04:07He then took Stotter to the train station and simply let him go.
04:10I said, well, why didn't you go to the police?
04:13And he said, I did go to the police.
04:15He said, I went down.
04:16He said, and they brushed it off as a lover's tiff.
04:18Later, after Nielsen was convicted, Stotter asked him why he was spared.
04:22Nielsen simply replied, quote,
04:23"'What passed between us was a thin strand of humanity.'"
04:26Christopher Bryson survived Robert Berdella
04:29On March 29, 1988, Robert Berdella of Kansas City kidnapped a 22-year-old man named Christopher
04:36Bryson.
04:37Christopher Bryson was wandering the streets when Robert Berdella picks him up, and he
04:42offers him a beer, and they drive around in his car for a while.
04:46Berdella then says, well, come back to my house, and you can have a beer there.
04:50So Christopher agrees, and they go back.
04:52By this point, Berdella had already killed at least six young men.
04:56Bryson was taken to Berdella's home, tied to a bed, and subjected to sexual abuse for
05:00multiple days.
05:02After four days in captivity, Bryson freed himself while Berdella was at work and fled
05:06the house, catching the attention of a nearby man.
05:09The police were called, Bryson was rescued, and a search warrant was issued for Berdella's
05:14home.
05:15Unknown to the police, they were about to uncover the shocking crimes committed by a sadistic
05:20serial killer, Robert Berdella.
05:24And with that, his crime spree finally came to an end after four long years.
05:29Cynthia Vigil Survived David Parker Ray
05:32Terrorizing the American Southwest for many years, David Parker Ray is also known as the
05:37Toy Box Killer.
05:39He was a predator, and he was a very good one, a very intelligent one.
05:44The name comes from his semi-trailer The Toy Box, inside of which Ray would conduct most
05:49of his heinous crimes.
05:50While Ray was never convicted of murder, he is suspected of killing more than 60 people.
05:55Cynthia Vigil was kidnapped by Ray and kept inside the Toy Box for three days before freeing
06:00herself and escaping.
06:01Her getaway was noticed by Ray's accomplice, Cindy Hendy, who gave chase.
06:05A fight ensued, and Vigil managed to grab an ice pick and stab Hendy in the neck.
06:09She grabbed her head as I just jumped.
06:12I dropped the phone and I jumped from the bed to the living room floor and just bolted
06:16out the door.
06:18For the first time in days, Cynthia is outside and free.
06:23She then made her way to a nearby home and called the police, resulting in the downfall
06:27of the Toy Box Killer.
06:29Lisa McVeigh Survived Bobby Joe Long
06:32Sometimes people escape killers.
06:35Other times, the killers let them go.
06:37That's the case with serial killer Bobby Joe Long and Lisa McVeigh, who would have been
06:41his ninth confirmed murder victim.
06:43Bobby Joe Long killed at least 10 women in Tampa, and on November 3, 1984, he tried adding
06:49one more to his macabre list.
06:52On November 3, 1984, Long kidnapped McVeigh as she was riding her bike and took her to
06:57his house, where he subjected her to sexual assault.
07:00But McVeigh managed to bond with Long and eventually convinced him to let her go.
07:04At one point she told him she had to care for her sick father.
07:08Only after 26 hours, he dropped her off not far from where the ordeal began.
07:13He blindfolded her, took her to the woods, and fled.
07:17McVeigh made her way home and phoned the police, and they began the surveillance on Long, which
07:21eventually led to his arrest.
07:23McVeigh later became a police officer and was present when Long was executed in 2019.
07:29Jeffrey Rignall Survived John Wayne Gacy
07:32While some people physically survive their attackers, the pain never truly goes away.
07:37On March 21, 1978, 26-year-old Jeffrey Rignall was attacked by John Wayne Gacy, who lured
07:43Rignall to his car with the promise of a joint.
07:46"'Gacy goes on the hunt and finds Jeffrey Rignall.
07:49The killer lures him into his car with-'
07:52He was chloroformed and taken to Gacy's house, where he was subjected to horrific abuse.
07:57After a while, Rignall fell unconscious and awoke in Lincoln Park, with Gacy having let
08:02him go.
08:03Gacy never explained why he let Rignall escape.
08:05"'Rignall spots Gacy's car, and he follows it to Gacy's home.'
08:09From there, he gets the license plate and reports it to the police, and the police issue
08:16a warrant.'"
08:17Regardless, the incident had a profound effect on Rignall, who soon suffered from depression,
08:22became withdrawn and reclusive, and lost a large amount of weight.
08:25He penned a memoir titled 29 Below before dying in 2000 at the age of 49.
08:31Carol Duranche Survived Ted Bundy
08:34Carol Duranche was at a mall in Murray, Utah, when she was approached by one officer, Roseland,
08:39who informed her that someone had tried breaking into her car.
08:42"'A man approached me, he said he was a police officer, and he said, well, we found someone
08:50trying to break into your car.
08:53He was polite, he asked me if I wanted to come out to the car with him and see if anything
08:58was missing.'"
08:59He offered to drive her to the police station and file a report, and she agreed.
09:03But when she pointed out that he was driving in the wrong direction, he pulled over, attacked,
09:08and attempted to put her in handcuffs.
09:10She fought off her attacker and escaped, later identifying him in a police lineup.
09:15It was Ted Bundy, and he was sentenced to prison.
09:17"'I just think he thought he was gonna get away with that.'"
09:20Unfortunately, he later escaped and continued his infamous reign of murder.
09:25Another survivor of Bundy's is Rhonda Stapley, a college student who was sexually assaulted
09:29before fleeing into the nearby woods.
09:32Tracey Edwards survived Jeffrey Dahmer
09:35If it wasn't for Tracey Edwards, then Jeffrey Dahmer might never have been caught.
09:39On July 22nd, 1991, Dahmer attracted the attention of Edwards and invited him back to his apartment.
09:45"'And Jeffrey said, well, let's come over to the apartment, we'll have a beer about
09:48time and everything, and she might be back, we'll drink a beer or two, you know.'"
09:52While there, Dahmer displayed some horrifying behavior, like holding a knife on Edwards
09:56and saying that he was going to eat his heart.
09:59Edwards eventually punched Dahmer in the face and ran out of the building, finding
10:02nearby police officers Robert Ralph and Rolf Mueller.
10:05They accompanied Edwards back to the apartment and immediately found evidence of Dahmer's
10:09crimes.
10:10After a brief struggle, Dahmer was handcuffed and arrested.
10:13His infamous death toll finished at 17.
10:16Edwards told police about Dahmer, ending Dahmer's killing spree.
10:20Former District Attorney Michael McCann says Edwards deserves the credit for finally exposing
10:24Dahmer and his crimes.
10:26"'Had that not happened, had Edwards himself been slain, no one could tell how many more
10:30people might have been killed.'"
10:31Holly Dunn survived and held Reséndiz.
10:35Reséndiz went by the name of the Railroad Killer, a man who claimed at least 15 lives
10:40throughout Mexico and the United States during the 80s and 90s.
10:43On August 29th, 1997, Reséndiz attacked both Christopher Meyer and his girlfriend, Holly
10:49Dunn, who were walking alongside some train tracks.
10:52He tied both of them up and killed Meyer by dropping a large rock on his head.
11:00He proceeded to stab Dunn in the neck with an ice pick, beat her over the head with a
11:04plank of wood and sexually assault her.
11:06She managed to survive her injuries, becoming the only known victim of the Railroad Killer
11:11to have done so.
11:12Rose Stewart survived Dean Carter.
11:15In March of 1984, Dean Carter murdered five women and received the death penalty for his
11:21However, his first attempt at murder was not successful.
11:25Rose Stewart, a woman whom Carter had known and grown attached to, woke up to find him
11:29in her room, whereupon he had his way with her for five hours.
11:33However, Stewart pretended to enjoy his company.
11:36Due to the compassion she showed him, he let her live, and she promised to call him while
11:41he was leaving.
11:42Stewart quickly went to the authorities, but Carter was long gone.
11:46Stewart later testified against Carter in court, helping to put him behind bars.
11:52Throughout the 1980s, Robert Black kidnapped, assaulted and murdered numerous young girls
11:59throughout the United Kingdom.
12:00Teenaged Teresa Thornhill was almost added to his body count when she was grabbed by
12:04Black on the streets of Nottingham.
12:06However, she managed to squeeze his groin during the struggle, which in turn loosened
12:10his grip and allowed her to scream for help.
12:13Her nearby boyfriend heard her screams and raced to her aid, resulting in Black hopping
12:17back into his car and speeding away.
12:27Another two years passed before Black was apprehended in Scotland.
12:30He was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2016.
12:38No one knows how many lives Rodney Alcala ended.
12:41Some say it could be 50, others say it could be as high as 130.
12:53Known as the dating game killer because he once appeared on the game show before his
12:57crimes were known, he was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders, and received an
13:02additional 25 years after copping to two others.
13:05His spree began in 1968 with the young Tali Shapiro, whom he sexually assaulted and beat
13:10in his apartment.
13:12After responding to a 911 call, a police officer found the bloodied Shapiro, but Alcala had
13:17fled.
13:18Shapiro survived the ordeal and now works as a chef.
13:27Larry Flint, the president of Larry Flint Publications and the producer of Hustler magazine,
13:36also had an encounter with a serial killer.
13:38On March 6, 1978, Flint and his lawyer were shot by a man who was standing across the
13:43street from them.
13:44Years later, white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin, who had slain between 7 and 22 people
13:49throughout the late 70s, claimed responsibility.
13:52Franklin stated that he was upset by interracial photos that were featured in Hustler.
14:04While Flint survived the attack, his spine was irreparably damaged, leaving him permanently
14:09paralyzed and dependent on medications.
14:16While Speck's reign of terror lasted only one night, it is harrowing all the same.
14:21On the night of July 13-14, 1966, Speck broke into a dormitory that housed student nurses,
14:27and it was here that he assaulted and murdered eight of its occupants.
14:31Amaral could have been the ninth victim, but she hid under a bed while Speck was finishing
14:35off the other eight women.
14:37She stayed under the bed until 6 a.m., when she finally emerged amid the blood and bodies.
14:43Amaral later identified Speck in court, a move that helped sentence him to life in prison.
14:48It was there he died from a heart attack in 1991.
14:51Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler survived Ted Bundy.
14:58The man who killed 30-plus people almost added two more to his list on the morning
15:02of January 15, 1978, when he broke into a Florida State University sorority house.
15:08After bludgeoning one woman with a fire log and strangling another, he attacked Kleiner
15:12and Chandler.
15:19Kleiner suffered a broken jaw and a lacerated shoulder, while Chandler suffered a concussion,
15:24a crushed finger, a broken jaw, and some lost teeth.
15:28Bundy's attacks on all four women lasted all of 15 minutes.
15:32Had he stayed longer, there's no telling how many more would have suffered.
15:36Whitney Bennett survived Richard Ramirez.
15:39Known as the Night Stalker, this monster burgled many homes and murdered at least 13 people
15:44in California from June 1984 to August 1985.
15:48He almost added teen Whitney Bennett to his list, and among Ramirez's survivors, her story
15:54is perhaps the most perplexing.
15:56Bennett was beaten with a tire iron and strangled with a telephone cord.
16:00However, Ramirez saw sparks shoot from the cord, and when Bennett took a breath, he was
16:04frightened and ran away.
16:06Ramirez was a Satanist, and he believed this was a sign that Jesus Christ had saved his
16:10victim, hence his fear.
16:13He left Bennett alive, but with massive lacerations to her scalp that required 478 stitches to
16:19close.
16:20Brian Hartnell survived the Zodiac Killer.
16:24The Zodiac Killer is one of the most infamous serial killers of all time, and perhaps his
16:28most well-known attack was the one at Lake Berryessa.
16:32On the afternoon of September 27th, 1969, Brian Hartnell and his girlfriend Cecilia
16:36Shepard were having a picnic at Lake Berryessa.
16:39It wasn't long before the Zodiac, complete with an executioner's hood, appeared.
16:43The couple was tied up, and the Zodiac proceeded to stab them numerous times while they were
16:48on the ground.
16:49Hartnell survived his wounds and later told his story to the authorities.
17:05However, it was in vain.
17:07The Zodiac Killer was never caught.
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17:26Rebecca Garday survived Gary Ridgway
17:30Known as the Green River Killer, Ridgway's 49 confirmed murders make him the most prolific
17:35serial killer in American history, and unconfirmed murders could bring the total higher than
17:4090.
17:42Garday was almost added to the tally when she was picked up by Ridgway while hitchhiking
17:48along the Pacific Highway.
17:50After offering to perform an intimate service on Ridgway, she was taken into the woods,
17:54where Ridgway attacked her.
17:56She managed to fight him off and ran to a nearby trailer home, where she was quickly
17:59taken in and sheltered.
18:01While she could barely speak immediately after the attack, she survived and is extremely
18:06lucky to have done so.
18:16Have you ever had a run-in with a shady figure?
18:19Let us know in the comments below.
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