A Survivor's Testimony

Court Transcription:

Witness Testimony of ****** ********, 17 in the case of The People vs. Satchel McNamara.

Direct Examination by Prosecutor: Evan Michaels

Q Good Morning Ms. ********, do you mind if I call you ******?

A Not at all, good morning.

Q Please tell the court about the events leading up to your first encounter with the defendant.

A We were taking a family vacation. It was very exciting, we had never taken one before, well, not all of us. Mom and dad once took me to the Magic Kingdom down in Florida, but that was when I was five. Way before **** and ******* were even born. Now though, the twins being nine, we were going to Kings Dominion in Virginia to ride roller coasters. But, we never made it.

Q Why is that?

A Mom kept hounding dad about running out of gas, and dad being stubborn continued driving without filling up until finally he realized he was being dumb. We were on the verge of being stuck on State Road 71, but as we were entering Brewster’s Park, dad stopped at a little Gas-N-Go place, it looked abandoned, but that was the aesthetic. [crying] Mom hated it, dad said it was endearing.

Q What happened at the Gas-N-Go?

A I took **** and ******* to the restroom while dad pumped gas and mom went inside to grab snacks. When we came back to the car, [pause] I saw dad was talking with a man, but he walked away before we got there. I asked Dad who the man was, and he said, ‘just someone asking for directions’.

Q Was that all your father said about the encounter?

A Yes

Q Then what happened?

A Mom came out with drinks for me and the twins. I had a Yoo-hoo and the twins each drank fruit punch. I remember [crying] because they got into a slap match and **** spilled red juice on my jacket. Dad got us back on the road, the sun was setting and the light cutting through the trees would occasionally hit dad in the face. Mom was so funny, she would mock him jokingly every time he winced. But as soon as the sun went down, Dad said the car was beginning to feel weird, felt like it was pulling to one side. [crying] He’s teaching me, [pause] He was teaching me how to drive, so I asked if it might be the alignment.

Q What did your father do then?

A He pulled over to the side of the road, onto the shoulder so we could check, I got out with him and we saw the rear passenger tire was definitely low, but it wasn’t yet flat. Dad cursed a bit, and mom got irritated with him. She’d asked him to make sure the car was prepared before we left, but the spare tire was missing, and she got mad. Dad said we’d be okay and that we’ll drive slow, he wanted to turn around and head back towards the Gas-N-Go, but just as we were all getting back into the car [pause]

Q It’s okay, take your time, would like a tissue?

A Yes, thank you.

Q Whenever you’re ready.

A A truck with a trailer pulled over to help us. Both Dad and I recognized the man from the gas station, the one asking Dad for directions.

Q Do you see that man here in the courtroom?

A I do.

Q Can you point to him? Let the record show that Ms. ******** has identified the defendant Satchel McNamara as the man in question. Please ******, go on.

A He acted very nice and offered to load our car onto his trailer and take us back. Dad was apprehensive, but mom was getting worried about us, it’d been a beautiful day, but now with the sun down and the snow falling, the temperature was dropping fast, so dad agreed. Mom, ****, ******, and I waited on the side of the road and watched the man lower his trailer gate while Dad slowly drove onto it.

Q What happened after your father loaded the family car onto the defendant’s trailer?

A [crying] Dad got out of the car and the man hit him with a tire iron, he fell off the side of the trailer. Mom screamed. **** and ******* were crying. The man yelled ‘shut up’ at us. I couldn’t scream, I froze. He threatened to hit Dad again if we didn’t shut up.

Q What was your father’s condition?

A Dad,[crying] he was awake, but he was, I don’t know, he wasn’t there, he was bleeding from the back of his head.

Q What did the defendant do next?

A He opened a tool box in the back of his truck, he threw handcuffs at Mom’s feet. He told her to cuff us and then herself, he put tape on our mouths and forced us into the back of his pick-up. [pause] I watched him roll my dad over and zip-tie his hands behind his back. He picked Dad up and put him in the truck bed. Dad’s eyes were closed, but I could see his chest still moving, I knew he was breathing, but his face [crying] was covered in blood.

Q Did the defendant say anything while he was forcing you all into his truck?

A He didn’t talk much and not really to any of us, but when he did, he kept saying something about, us soon being at peace.

Q What’s your mother and siblings condition in the truck?

A Mom and the twins were crying, but the tape covering our mouths kept us all muffled.

Q Once he has you in the truck, what does he do?

A I watched him drench a rag and cover my mother’s nose. [crying] She closed her eyes and got real quiet, he did the same to the twins and then came for me. [pause] I had nowhere to go, I tried to wiggle my face away, but he grabbed me hard by the neck, [crying] and everything went black.

Q Is this the rag and bottle you witnessed the defendant using?

A Yes.

Q Let the record show that Ms. ******** has identified Exhibit 1 as the bottle of Chloroform used on her and her mother and siblings, and Exhibit 2 as the rag used to dispense Exhibit 1. They were both found in the defendant’s truck and tested positive for signs of the ********’s DNA. What’s the next thing you remember?

A I woke up, and we were sitting under a tree by a pond. The ice was starting to cover the water and everything was white. The only light was coming from the moon and stars. **** and ****** were to my right and Mom was on my left, she was still asleep, but the twins were not. Their eyes were wide and filled with fear, they were trying not to cry, but I could see their tears glistening. The man was down at the shore, he was standing in the water. I realized I didn’t see Dad anywhere, and noticed I wasn’t wearing handcuffs any longer, at sometime he’d replaced them with rope.

Q The court has identified Exhibits 3, 4, 5, and 6 as the handcuffs, rope, zip-ties and duct tape, all found at the scene, in the defendants truck. Please continue.

A I saw he had done the same to all of us. He had bound our hands and feet. He was whistling as he came back over, he knelt down in front of me and told me Dad was at peace. The twins started crying louder and breathing heavy through their noses. He reached for Mom’s ankle, but **** started kicking snow at him. He got mad and instead grabbed both **** and ******* by a leg and dragged them to the water, he slapped ****** and dropped her leg, but walked into the pond holding **** under the water. I was screaming, but the tape was,[crying] I was trying to push with my tongue, but it wouldn’t budge. Then the bubbles and the struggle stopped. He dragged **** back to the shore and dropped him, and grabbed [crying] ******* and did the same to her.

Q Your mother was still unconscious?

A I was trying to wake her up, I was bumping her with my shoulder, but she wouldn’t open her eyes. I saw he had filled sandbags with rocks, [crying] he tied a bag around both **** and ******* and walked them into the pond. He pushed them down and they were gone. I knew I was about to die, this man was killing my family, Dad, ****, *******, they were gone. [crying] He saw me struggle, I tried to remove the tape covering my mouth, but he came over and slapped me. I just stared at him.[pause] He told me I was last, he wanted me to admire his ability to bring peace to my family. He grabbed my mom’s leg and pulled hard enough for her to open her eyes,

Q Your Mother regained consciousness?

A Yes, and she quickly tore the tape from her mouth and started screaming, but he jumped on her and smashed his hand over her mouth. He said, ‘shut up or I’ll make you watch your last kid die’. [crying] She did.

Q What did he do next?

A He covered her mouth again with the tape, and punched her really hard in the face, she looked at me, but he dragged her away.

Q As the defendant is dragging your mother towards the pond, what do you do?

A I was wiggling my hands around, but couldn’t get my hands free, my thumb was in the way, so with all my might, I dislocated it, and was able to slip my hands through. I was able to then untie the rope around my ankles. I wanted to help my family, I knew it was too late, so I ran. He must have seen me escape, he yelled and yelled and I heard him start to chase, but he couldn’t keep up. I didn’t know where I was, I was in the forest and it was dark. The light from above was now being blocked by the snow covered tree tops. I don’t know how long I ran, I just kept going until finally I saw it.

Q What did you see?

A Through the darkness, I saw a green light. I didn’t know what it was, I just knew it was something to run to, so I did. As I got closer I saw the signs that read “Brewster’s Park Ranger Station,” I banged on the door until Ranger Nelson’s wife Luellen opened up and took me in.

Q Once you were in the safety of the Ranger Station, What happened?

A They sat me in front of the fireplace, and I told them how the man had abducted my family and took us to some pond. Ranger Nelson got on the radio and said he was waking everyone up. I guess he did, cause within minutes he jumped in his jeep and left, leaving me with Mrs. Nelson. That’s when she told me that almost twenty years ago, Ranger Nelson, was just beginning his career as a park ranger came across a little boy whose family had all drown in Penelope Pond.

Q Thank you Ms. ********. Your Honor, no further questions.