Original subtitles

I remember he just kept bashing me

As hard as he could in the head.

"you f'ing bitch. You f'ing b-I-t-c-h."

I can feel him chasing me.

I feel him coming behind me, and I am just running.

Aah!

He says, "you're not going anywhere."

Aah!

I remember just thinking about my son.

Aah!

"you're gonna die.

You're gonna die."

Narrator: When desire overtakes reason,

The human mind can unleash deadly obsession.

These are true stories told by the victims.

Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

So I am from roy, utah.

I have three brothers and my mother and my father.

And it was just fun.

I had lots of childhood friends,

Many that I am still close with, still my best friends.

I was always interested in fashion and hair and makeup

And all of that fun stuff.

I was about 19 years old.

I was living in boston, massachusetts,

And I didn't know what I was going to do with my life.

And I saw all of the girls at the clubs.

They were fashionable.

Their haircuts were so cute.

They were just so beautiful,

And I just wanted to be like them.

So I would ask my friends,

"I wonder what they do for a living?"

And I had heard that they were hairdressers.

I thought, "well, maybe I should become a hairdresser."

So I went on to hair school.

I loved hair school.

I really enjoyed hair coloring and all of that,

But my favorite was hair cutting.

And I graduated in about two years.

So I was actually working at a salon,

And I took a little walk in the mall on a break...

...And I met my boyfriend.

We fell in love, and we decided to get married.

I was really excited that I was pregnant,

Just an exciting adventure.

It was just an amazing feeling having my baby, daniel david.

He was beautiful -- 7 pounds, 12 ounces,

Beautiful big blue eyes.

I loved being married,

But the financial issues were really, really hard for us.

We decided that we would divorce

And remain friends,

And it was just the best situation for us.

Hi,

I got a phone call one day

From one of my really good friends.

She told me that they were opening

A brand new hair school -- very high end, very classy.

And she said, "savannah, I am going to be a director

At the brand new school,

And I would like to hire you on."

And it just felt right.

It clicked, it felt like I should be there.

I was actually living in downtown,

And I was commuting all of the way to ogden,

Which was about 35 miles.

So that added a lot of time to my morning commute,

And it was really stressful with picking up daniel.

I actually took a drive up around north ogden

After work one day.

And as I was driving,

I saw this townhome with a sign in the front yard

And it said, "for rent."

I quickly called the landlady,

She told me that the previous girl had just quickly left,

Completely left her high and dry,

And she was looking to rent it out.

She told me that the girl that had left was a single mother,

And I thought, "my goodness, that's so strange."

But I did notice that that community

Was predominantly mormon,

And me and my son were not.

Hey, buddy, what's your name?

I did notice that there was a man that lived next door to me

On the left side,

And he seemed to be a bit older. Maybe almost 60 years old,

His name was todd.

He seemed like he was kind of lonely.

Let me know if you need a hand.

I got this, thanks. I pack light.

I told him that we had moved from the city.

He was very friendly, very nice.

He just seemed like a --

Kind of a grandfather-type really.

In a way, it was reassuring feeling, yes.

As we moved to our new location in north ogden,

I enrolled daniel at the best school,

Which we were referred to.

Long: I was a principal,

I was in charge of just running the school,

Hiring teachers,

And just making the school really a warm place

For just all of our families, especially new families.

And savannah was one of those new families.

I remember she came in,

And she's so personable, and she's so friendly,

And so upbeat, and outgoing,

And she was excited to put her son into our school.

Fuchs: I had been living in north ogden for about six months,

And I came across my tire being flat one morning.

And it was really frustrating,

Because I had to get to work.

And I didn't know what I was going to do.

And, so, the neighbor was outside.

Hey.

He was really nice, and he said,

"looks like you have a flat tire."

And I said, "yeah, I've got to get to work.

I'm in a rush."

Where's your dad? Can he help?

I just thought that was kind of strange.

I mentioned to him --

I said, "well, my father passed away.

I do most of the stuff on my own.

I don't really have a lot of help.

My mother lives about 20 minutes away,

But I'm really independent."

Well if you're in a hurry, I could give you a ride.

It's early morning hours, I don't want to bug my mom.

That'd be great.

But it's so reassuring to know that in the community,

That there are going to be neighbors that will help you

And go out of their way to help if needed.

That made me feel extra safe.

So how long you lived here?

About seven years now.

He said that he had a daughter.

I believe he told me that he had grandchildren.

I remember being extra thankful in the car.

I just said, "thank you so much for going out of your way,

I appreciate it."

I said, "is it okay, since you dropped me off,

Can you pick me up after and take me home?"

And he said, "sure, not a problem."

And he says, "here's my number just in case."

And he picked me up and took me home after work.

After he helped me with that ride,

I noticed him popping up more and more.

I was coming home one day, and he was outside,

And I had some blinds.

You need any help hanging those?

I should be fine.

You got a drill?

No. Do you?

So I let him help me hang the blinds.

It was really nice having that extra help.

It's because I really missed my dad.

It was so nice of todd.

He was a very kind neighbor,

So I thought I would offer him a free haircut.

I'm inspecting all the cutting and color,

And I take a peek over and I just say,

"hey, you know, how's your service going?"

And he literally turns all the way around,

And he just locks eyes on me.

It was just the most awkward feeling.

It was such a strange feeling.

Almost like -- he didn't smile,

But he wasn't angry.

It was just like a dead stare,

And it really made me feel uncomfortable.

It's easter morning,

And there's a card attached to my door.

And it says, "thank you for being my friend,

God bless you.

Best friends forever."

And I'm thinking to myself, "best friends forever?"

I'm your neighbor.

Like, this is so strange.

So I kind of thought this was really weird,

So I called my landlady and I said to her --

I said, "I just got a card from the next door neighbor

And he says,

'best friends forever' on the card."

And she began to laugh.

She said, "don't worry about it.

You're a really cute girl, you dress nice,

You're fashionable,

And he probably just thinks your cute.

Don't worry," she said.

"he's been there for seven years.

That's my best tenant."

It's 11:00 at night, and I'm fast asleep.

I heard a knock downstairs.

I thought, "I'm just going to let that person knock...

Keep knocking."

Because I'm not going to go down there

And open to a complete stranger.

I didn't feel so good about it,

Because it was later at night, and I just --

It felt odd to me.

As the knocking continued, I thought in my mind,

"I need to call the police."

Who is it?

It's todd.

I have a package for you.

I'll get it in the morning.

I don't know what is going on.

It's just me and my son.

I don't know what to do.

I actually took a drive,

And I saw this townhome with a sign in the front yard,

And it said, "for rent."

It just felt like I should be there.

And I came across my tire being flat one morning.

Well, if you're in a hurry, I can give you a ride.

It's 11:00 at night.

Who is it?

This is getting so scary.

I don't know what to do.

I called the police,

And I let them know that I felt uncomfortable,

Because the next door neighbor was knocking at 11:00 at night

And kept knocking.

They actually did talk with todd,

And he said, "I'm just trying to be a good neighbor.

I am not trying to date her."

I'm thinking to myself, "what is going on?

This is so weird."

I've never had a neighbor like this before.

What steps do I take?

I reached out to the police, "what do I do?"

So in my mind, I'm thinking, "I have to take care of my son.

He's number one."

So as I get out to my car, I notice another flat tire,

And I'm thinking, "my gosh.

I'm going to be so late for work."

I hadn't experienced so many flat tires

Until I moved to this townhome.

And I was very frustrated,

Because I truly believe todd was flattening my tires.

There was no way that I would knock on his door

And ask for another ride -- absolutely not.

I'm just going to call my friend dennis,

And we're going to be fine.

He's been such a great family friend,

And he has just really been a rock for us.

Long: Over the course of, you know,

Several weeks and several months and so forth,

We struck up a friendship.

This is the second time she's had a flat tire,

That's kind of weird.

And, so, I picked her up,

And there's nothing wrong with your tire.

It looks in good shape.

There's no nail.

Started thinking, "something doesn't add up here.

Something just this isn't right.

During the summer,

Todd would leave a gift, like once a month.

I would go to work every morning,

We would have a morning meeting,

And once in a while one of my coworkers would ask,

"how is that neighbor of yours doing?

What's the latest stuff that's appearing on the front step?"

It'd be kind of a topic of conversation in the morning.

It was just very, very, very awkward.

Long: I first thought, "well, he's a little dirty old man

Who's just attracted or infatuated with savannah

Because she's young."

And I just thought, "okay, well, he's harmless.

And he's probably lonely and he's trying to just be friends.

Fuchs: So after a long day of work,

I picked up my son from his preschool,

And we drove home.

And as I'm pulling in, I'm kind of tired.

It's been a long day at work.

I noticed there's pink chalk that my son has used,

Because my son loves to draw with chalk.

A message in big capital letters,

And it says "pray for forgiveness"

In big capital letters.

And I lived on the end unit.

I was kind of isolated, and I was alone.

I know it's todd. I know it's todd.

And I have his phone number, so I texted him.

And I said, "did you write that?"

And he texted back and he said, "no."

He was deliberately trying to make me feel uncomfortable.

Long: Savannah called me,

And she was pretty concerned over this,

And that was, again --

That just kind of upped in my mind

The bizarre nature of this guy.

Like, okay, this guy is getting further beyond

Just being a lonely old guy next door

Who just wants some attention.

They pulled him onto the front step,

And they confronted him in front of me,

And they said, "did you write this?"

No, sir, I didn't write that.

I'm a good guy,

And I'm just trying to be a good neighbor.

I know you wrote that.

And he could see the fear in my eyes

When I talked to the police.

And how he almost laughed it off,

And said that he was a good man.

Look, if I see anything,

I'll reach out to you officers, okay?

And I just thought, "my gosh,

Can't they see, like, that he did this?

Am I going crazy?"

It was just kind of a helpless feeling.

I thought, "this is crazy."

They couldn't do anything

Because he hadn't committed a crime.

At this point, I just said,

"okay, well, I'll call you back if I find anything else."

I just always felt like he was watching me.

It was just such an uncomfortable feeling,

Like I, didn't feel like I would want to live there anymore.

I remember there was a time that I didn't even want to go home.

Like, I would deliberately drive around

And kind of make sure that I got home at a later hour.

That way I wouldn't have to encounter him outside.

My family was very worried.

And my mother, she would stress her concern.

My renewal of the contract was actually coming up in the fall.

And I thought to myself, "there's no way in hell

I'm going to renew this contract.

And I'm going to let my landlady know."

I was going to start looking for a condo.

The holidays were approaching,

And we were invited to spend the holiday in baltimore.

I thought, "okay, great.

This is a sense of relief for me.

I can get away.

I don't have to re-sign that lease."

It was nice because I could kind of clear my head.

We went to the museums, we walked around,

And it was just fabulous.

I didn't think about anything.

So as I got back from baltimore, and it's late at night.

So I opened up the door and I left the keys in there,

And I went back and forth to the car.

And I got the luggage, and I brought it in.

I don't see the keys, they're not there.

And I've got everything on those keys.

I've got my car key, the house key, mailbox key,

Even a work key.

So I opened up the door and I left the keys in there.

And I went back and forth to the car.

I don't see the keys. They're not there.

I'm looking around.

Did I place them while I was going back and forth?

And I called the landlady and I said,

"listen, I don't know what happened,

But I misplaced my set of keys."

After like a week, my mind honestly forgot about it,

Like I didn't even think about it,

Like my life went on.

At this point I was still wanting to move,

Just because of all of the things

That I had encountered.

I just felt like that would be the right thing to do.

And so I asked my friend dennis

To help me look for an apartment.

Long: She told me that she was not comfortable living there,

Not with him and some of the things that he was doing.

She really couldn't avoid him.

Fuchs: It was thanksgiving week,

And dennis took me and daniel in his car,

And he took me to look at some places in south ogden,

Apartments that were within my budget.

However, the deposit was really, really pricey,

And I could not come up with that lump sum.

It's very hard not being able to make that lump sum

Right up front.

That is very stressful,

And it is a lot of money to come up with

As a single mother.

And I couldn't afford to leave.

I remember we were talking in the car,

And he says, "well, you know, don't worry.

Keep your chin up. It'll be fine.

We're going to find something. It'll be fine."

And I remember just feeling like,

"okay, you know, I'll be optimistic."

And dennis drove me up to my townhome,

And as he pulls in, he says,

"savannah, what the hell is that on the front step?"

Daniel, wait, there.

It was right before thanksgiving.

Right when a person would need to have a turkey

To bake in the oven.

And dennis was quiet. He was really quiet.

I could tell he was just a little uncomfortable.

Leave me alone.

It really, really irritated savannah,

Like, "okay, this guy is really harassing me.

This guy is really going beyond just trying to be friendly."

I actually took the turkey,

And I trashed it out in the dumpster.

Long: But on the way back, she said,

"I think he's looking out the window at us right now."

Did I think he was dangerous?

Not yet.

Sometimes I can be kind of vocal and I can talk kind of loud,

Especially if I get upset.

And I'm sure at some point,

He could hear what I'm saying

To my friends and to my family,

What I'm talking about,

And I'm sure he's listening on the other side of the wall.

And it's very uncomfortable.

It's just so unnerving not knowing what to do.

Christmas rolls around.

We were really excited because my mom called,

And she said, "come on over.

We're going to have a nice lunch.

Let's spend some time together."

I'm literally going out that front door,

And I'm stopped by this like presents, and toys,

And there's a microwave.

Wow.

Merry christmas.

I said, "daniel, we're not taking any of this."

Daniel, leave it.

And daniel said, "but, mommy, I want the gifts.

I want the gifts."

And I said, "daniel, I'm sorry. We can't take the gifts.

Leave it, okay? Come back inside, please.

He didn't quite understand. He was so little.

Like, this has got to stop.

This is insane.

I trashed those toys.

I tried to keep that separate from daniel.

I didn't want him to see that exchange going on

And me trashing everything.

I made this agreement with my son,

And we set this in stone

That if there was anything that was on the step, right,

We wouldn't be able to take it.

Because if we were taking it,

Then that would lead him to believe

That we were, like, somehow keeping this going, right?

So I told daniel, "no, we're not keeping anything."

I didn't hear a word.

There was no other gifts after christmas.

That stopped,

And everything kind of smoothed on with my life.

He left me alone until about the middle of January.

I noticed a ladder on the left side of the house

Right outside the window.

And I thought, "okay, what is going on?

Is that my landlady doing work this time of year?"

Hello?

Anyone there?

It clicked in my head, like, it's him.

It's got to be him.

Fuchs: I noticed the ladder on the left side of the house

Right outside the window.

It clicked in my head, like, it's him,

It's got to be him.

It's todd.

I just knew it was him.

So I called the landlady, she said,

"I'm sorry, I can't help you, call the police."

So I called the cops and I told them,

"hey, I found a ladder out my window.

Is there anything that you guys are going to do for me

At this point?

What do I have to prove?"

So they said to me

That this is between you and your landlord.

You signed an agreement with your landlady.

So I said, "okay."

So I called her back.

I said, "listen, I called the cops,

And they told me

This is between me and you now at this point.

I want to move out.

I'm looking as soon as I can.

Please help me out.

I just just can't -- I just can't live here anymore.

I just need to get out.

She said, "savannah, don't worry.

I'll take care of you."

She said, "I'm going to evict him.

You've all ready gone through way too much.

I'm going to evict him in the spring."

And I said, "okay, but whatever you do,

Don't say my name,

Because I don't want any problems with this guy.

I just don't want any issues. I want to move on with my life."

She said, "don't worry." so after the ladder,

I started looking for the protective orders

And I went online.

And I looked at the different options

And it mentioned, was it a relative?

Was it an ex-boyfriend,

Was it an ex-husband?

Do you share custody of a child?

And it didn't have a checkbox for a neighbor

And I just thought, "none of these qualify for me."

And so it just didn't look like it would even help.

I come home from work, and I could see this big shadow.

And I think, "my goodness, what is on my step now?"

It's a huge rocking chair with a stuffed animal in it.

It looked like it was for my son.

At this point, my blood is boiling.

I am so mad.

And I'm going to take this big rocking chair

And walk it all the way over down to the dumpster.

I chuck it in, and I'm so mad.

I just can't take this anymore.

And I walked back into the house,

And I slammed the door.

I'm wanting to confront him.

I'm wanting to just let him know

That I'm not going to take this anymore.

I'm going to stick up for myself.

I really think he was trying to push me until I snapped.

Leave me alone!

And I was so angry.

And he just looked at me with this blank stare...

...Like he didn't know what to say.

I was so mad that I wanted him to be afraid of me.

After the rocking chair incident,

I was completely left alone by todd.

He completely left me alone

For the month of February and March.

My alarm went off at 5:30.

I wake up really early in the morning.

I heard some noises out in the hallway.

Daniel, is that you?

And I'm thinking to myself,

"how am I going to get out of here?"

At this point I'm thinking, "my boy --

Like, he's right next door to the room."

What are you doing here?

Shut up, you bitch!

aah!

And he took the gun,

And he hit me as hard as he could

On the left side of the head.

And I thought, "my god. My god. My god.

What is going on? What is going on?"

Like a wild animal,

I'm fighting and fighting and fighting.

Get on your knees!

Think of my son.

Think of daniel, please.

You don't have to do this.

You're ruined my life, you evil bitch!

I remember he just kept bashing me

As hard as he could in the head,

"you f'ing bitch, you f'ing b-I-t-c-h,

You're gonna die, you're gonna die."

And I just thought, "I'm going to make it.

I'm just not going to give up.

I'm going to keep fighting."

Aah.

I can feel him chasing me.

I feel him coming behind me, and I am just running.

Aah!

He says, "you're not going anywhere.

You're gonna die.

You're going to die."

Fuchs: I can feel him chasing me.

I feel him coming behind me, and I am just running.

I was literally holding onto that front door

Every last minute that I could have

To get out of the house.

I let go, and I just felt, like, helpless.

I remember the door slammed really loud,

And my son woke up

And he says, "mom? Mom?"

And I said, "daniel, go up to your room.

Todd broke in.

Get to your room."

"please, todd, let me go please.

Put the gun down. Let's just talk this through."

Todd takes the gun, pulls it up at me,

Aims it at my face,

Pulls his finger onto the trigger.

And it jams.

If the gun hadn't jammed I would be dead.

Then todd takes the gun...

...Puts his finger on the trigger,

And aims it to the floor, and the gun works.

I was thinking about my son

And just what would happen to him.

I wasn't able to fight.

I was feeling like I'm going to die.

I just looked up at the ceiling and I just said,

"god, just save me please.

Save me. Save me god."

The gun, like, dropped.

Like it was on the ground.

I'm sorry.

And he calls for an ambulance.

He called -- I think he called 911.

Man: Police. Open up.

Fuchs: And then I remember him asking who was at the door

Man: Police. Open up.

Fuchs: And then there was a police officer

On the other side of the door.

And then when he heard the police officer,

He ran off up the stairs.

But I heard a gun go off,

And it's like I knew that he killed himself.

I must have gone out a few times.

I was probably unconscious a few times, actually.

I look up, and it's dark,

And I can see daniel's little face looking over at me,

And I feel like there's this light.

And he says, "hi, mom."

And then the police said, "come on, let's go."

And they ushered him.

They took him out to the police car

And got him some help, made sure that he was okay.

You know what? Savannah is extremely lucky.

Extremely lucky.

She probably should've died that night.

You know, he shot that gun several times

Hoping to kill her.

He brought twist ties and body bags in.

He had every intention of killing her.

Fuchs: I believe in miracles,

And I believe that miracles happen every day.

And I survived something that should have killed me.

I don't think it was a mere coincidence that she survived.

I think someone was watching over her.

Fuchs: As I found out later

That the gun had jammed numerous times,

I believe that I was protected by an angel.

And when I was laying in the hospital,

The policeman came to the bed and he said,

"is there any way that he could've got into the house?"

And my mind automatically jumped

To the set of keys I left in the door.

Todd's dangerous obsession with me was so severe

That it nearly cost me my life.

The obsession that todd had with me

Had escalated and escalated and kept escalating,

And it was just getting more and more dramatic

And more and more scary.

And it escalated to the point

Where I almost lost my life on April 1st.

And it was the most horrific event

That has ever happened in my life,

And I survived.

And I am so blessed to tell this story.