suburb, rio rancho in this home with his wife and three young children. he had worked as a mechanic and fisherman and had worked all over the united states. a fluent spanish speaker, he also lived in mexico. but the man who appeared in family photos as the ever-smiling attentive father also had a dark side. six months before, his wife had taken out a restraining order against him, reporting he had choked her. the first time i saw him, i remember thinking it was as strong a reaction that i had had to richard ramirez. ramirez is the notorious night stalker, convicted of murdering more than a dozen people in the 1980s, now awaiting execution on california s death row. prosecutor theresa watley once crossed paths with ramirez in the courtroom. he actually made the hair on my arms stand up because he was so evil. the only other person that has done that to me was joel courtney. when you first read the reports about this case, what went through your mind as a prosecutor? that this
a few steps later she felt someone grab her from behind and hold a knife to her throat. inside the car, she was sexually assaulted and then her abductor stopped at these apartments, tied her up with her own shoe laces and went inside. incredibly, the woman was able to wriggle free, left the shoelaces lying in the parking lot and ran into the street with no clothes on, where she was rescued by dara finks. what made you want to help? what made you want to stop? my upbringing, the way we were raised, i feel god put me here for a reason, to help that girl because he knew we would help her. it was gutsy as hell. i think she s a hero, dara is the hero of that night. theresa watley is the prosecutor who would handle the case for the district attorney s office. had they not been there, he would have picked her up again. he was waiting. he was lurking right there. there was no question what he was waiting for. but though the victim was now safe, her attacker was still on the loose
he had worked as a mechanic and fisherman and had worked all over the united states. a fluent spanish speaker, he also lived in mexico. but the man who appeared in family photos as the ever-smiling attentive father also had a dark side. six months before, his wife had taken out a restraining order against him, reporting he had choked her. the first time i saw him, i remember thinking it was as strong a reaction that i had had to richard ramirez. ramirez is the notorious night stalker, convicted of murdering more than a dozen people in the 1980s, now awaiting execution on california s death row. prosecutor theresa watley once crossed paths with ramirez in the courtroom. he actually made the hair on my arms stand up because he was so evil. the only other person that has done that to me was joel courtney. when you first read the reports about this case, what went through your mind as a prosecutor?
someone grab her from behind and hold a knife to her throat. inside the car, she was sexually assaulted and then her abductor stopped at these apartments, tied her up with her own shoe laces and went inside. incredibly, the woman was able to wriggle free, left the shoelaces lying in the parking lot and ran into the street with no clothes on, where she was rescued by dara finks. what made you want to help? what made you want to stop? my upbringing, the way we were raised, i feel god put me here for a reason, to help that girl because he knew we would help her. it was gutsy as hell. i think she s a hero, dara is the hero of that night. theresa watley is the prosecutor who would handle the case for the district attorney s office. had they not been there, he would have picked her up again. he was waiting. he was lurking right there. there was no question what he was waiting for. but though the victim was now safe, her attacker was still on the loose.
yes. so you don t need to settle? no. the only reason to settle is to help the family, to get brooke s body? we were prepared to go to trial and to secure a conviction and to pursue the death penalty. still, the judge wasn t quite ready to move on. he asked both sides to try one last time to settle the case before trial. during weeks of tense talks with joel courtney s attorneys, the prosecutor finally discovered the one incentive that might appeal to courtney and give the wilbergers their daughter back. courtney wanted out of oregon. he might admit to murder and reveal the location of brooke s remains if he could serve his prison time near his own family, in new mexico. the wilberger family quickly agreed. anything, they thought, to get brooke back. we needed to have the approval of the oregon governor and we needed to have the approval of the new mexico