one of them was her husband s former boss, warden jack cowley. did you suspect bobbi parker had a hand in it right away? i was drawn to that conclusion. it was cowley, remember, who picked dial to run the pottery program out of the parkers garage. then one day he now says he was driving by the parker home and i saw dial and bobbi out on the front porch drinking coffee or tea or something. they looked a little bit too cozy? right. then there were the phone calls from bobbi just after the prison break. she called her mother, and she made two more calls soon after that to a friend and her sister-in-law. but none to her husband. what did you think about that? i first of all, i thought it was relief. i thought it was good that she was able to make a phone call. i didn t think that she would be calling home because i just didn t figure dial would let her. maybe randy wasn t suspicious, but plenty of others were including charles sasser, the former detective who d
that was more than ten years earlier. bobbi s friend, brenda hickerson she was amazing person. she had her life with her family. she volunteered everywhere, at school. what brought these two together and kept them together for more than a decade was a sensational mystery back in 2005. now a bizarre twist in an 11-year-old story. randolph dial was recaptured. a woman missing for more than a decade suddenly discovered everyone was talking. was it a prison break and kidnapping? was bobbi parker a hostage? there was no doubt in my mind that she had been kidnapped by this man. or was she a partner in crime and maybe much more than that? i said, are you all right? she said, yes, i m fine, i m happy. nothing made sense. nothing. if you had to pick a woman to star in a sensational true crime
this a good place to do it? well, if a person keeps a very low profile, a person could stay out of circulation for a while, yes. but the deals had been farmhands here for years until the law descended on their home. what did he say? i knew you were coming, i just didn t know when. agents found mrs. deal working on another farm just down the road. what shape did she seem to be in? fine. the men were placed in handcuffs, a routine arrest. it turned out the rest of the story was anything but. that s because richard and samantha deal were not husband and wife at all but instead the oddest of odd couples. his real name was randolph dial, an escaped convict and self-confessed hitman, claimed to have mob connections, and who also happened to be a talented artist and a relentless schemer. the whole idea after you get it is one way or another do your best to get out. the woman, her real name was bobbi parker, a schoolteacher. the wife of the deputy warden at the prison where he
garage. then one day he now says he was driving by the parker home and i saw dial and bobbi out on the front porch drinking coffee or tea or something. they looked a little bit too cozy? right. then there were the phone calls from bobbi just after the prison break. she called her mother, and she made two more calls soon after that to a friend and her sister-in-law. but none to her husband. what did you think about that? i first of all, i thought it was relief. i thought it was good that she was able to make a phone call. i didn t think that she would be calling home because i just didn t figure dial would let her. maybe randy wasn t suspicious, but plenty of others were including charles sasser, the former detective who d written a book on randolph dial. dial started off tending the warden s garden. he tended the warden s ceramics shop, and then apparently ended up tending the warden s wife. sasser recalled that night in 2001, seven years after the
their relationship was not one of kidnapper and victim. it was one of husband and wife. his prisoner or his lover? i really do love you. sounds like a pretty heartfelt love letter. now, she tells her story for the very first time. will you believe her? let us know on the dateline chat line. i was fighting for my life. line. i was fighting for my life. the devil and bobbi parker. captions paid for by nbc-universal television welcome to dateline, everyone, i m lester holt. it s a remarkable case. a mother missing for more than ten years as her family waited, wondered, hoped. she had been kidnapped, held dangerous by a prisoner. other believe she was really captive to something else her own dangerous emotions. tonight, see what you think. which story will you believe? here s edie magnus. on april 4, 2005, a texas county sheriff near the louisiana border heard there might be a fugitive in his area. i received a telephone call from a local texas ranger.