This episode contains stories involving violence against children. Listener discretion is advised. Anthony and Nathaniel Cook have been arrested after a decades-long killing spree unprecedented in Toledo history. These serial killers were ruthless. Evil, demonic, psychopathic. This campaign was a issue that they was dead. He started coming across the street. My heart started beating really fast. Walking. I think abandoned garage around the corner. I heard the gun click back, and that's when I knew they were going to kill me right then. I had them hug each other. I pleaded with them to please let us go. And they said no, that my time will come. And shot one time. I seen them walking down the street. Then got out of trouble and followed up behind them. I had to come. Real people who faced death and lived to tell how. This is I Survived a Serial Killer. I am Cheryl Fran, and I survived a serial killer. In January 1980, I was 18 years old, and I was taking care of my two-year-old. My son's father and I, we were living together in Toledo. His name was Bud. Bud was a meat cutter at a local grocery store. We didn't have a car, so I would walk to the store to meet him so he wouldn't have to walk by himself. That night, Bud's brother Don was with my son. Around 1230, I walked down Seeger Street. It took me about 15 minutes to walk to the store. I met Bud, and we went back the same way that I came. We were within 20 feet of our house. I seen a man across the street in a green army jacket and a ski cab. He started walking a little bit faster, and then he started coming across the street. My heart started beating really fast. And I looked at Bud, and he just said, don't worry, you're with me. He came up to us. He was a black man with a beard. And the next thing I knew, he pulled a handgun. It was the first gun I've ever seen in my life. It crossed my mind that this is a robbery. We offered Bud's watch, wallet, just so he would leave us alone. He put his hand out for us to give him the stuff, and he just stuck in his pocket. I thought, OK, he's going to let us leave. That's all he wanted. And then he threw two ski caps at us and told us to put them over our face. The man said, they'll shoot you if you start to run. I have the ski mask over my face. It wasn't totally blacked out. You could see through the fabric. It was very dark. I didn't know what was going to happen. And then I remember in Bud's wallet was our address where our son was at. All I could think of was he was going to kill me and then go and get my son. And that's when he made us walk down an alley. This is the voice of Anthony Cook. Walking through the alley, walking through the abandoned garage, around the corner. He pushed the gun and Bud's back and told us to stop right here. I was able to look a little bit then because I lifted my mask up. Someone was coming. He was very tall and he was husky. And he had an army jacket on too. He waved in the first one and my heart dropped. That's when I realized there was two of them. my heart started beating even faster. Brian Duggar is an investigative journalist. About eight months before Cheryl and Bud were attacked, there was a young couple, Sandra Pagorski and Tommy Gordon, that were sitting in a car. Two black men forced their way into the car and took them to a field in western Lucas County I got a cow He broke in rain and I think I shot three or four times And he was on the ground Terry Austin is a legal analyst. At that point, Sandra was raped and stabbed multiple times. They left her for dead, but she did survive. Then she eventually was able to get help. And Sandra told police one of them was bearded. And she said one person called the other abductor Tony. But there was nothing else for the police to go on. And the case eventually went cold. They just told us to go into the garage. Bud was trying to stay cool so he wouldn't agitate them. I was hysterical. My heart hurt from being scared. I pleaded with them to please let us go. And they said, no, that my time will come. They put the gun to Bud's head. And then the first one had a knife to my throat. The second one told the first one, Tony, I will go first. And that's when I was told to take my pants down. I was in shock, and I refused. And that's when he took the knife deeper into my throat. I heard the gun click back, and that's when I knew they were going to kill me right then. Part of me wished that they would have just killed me. I was raped by both of them. I couldn't catch my breath. My heart was pounding so fast, it felt like I could have had a heart attack. When they were done, one of the guys told Bud to hold me tight, because it would be the last time that he would hold me. I was petrified. Who was going to raise my son? That's all I could think about. We just kept telling each other we loved each other and things were going to be OK, even though we were pretty sure they weren't. 10 days before Cheryl was attacked, police find the naked body of 19-year-old Connie Sue Thompson in a culvert out in rural Lucas County. I couldn't let her go. And I just picked up a piece of wire and started choking it. At this point, police did not necessarily make a connection with the Gordon and Pagorski abduction. But this was another young woman who was taken off the streets of Toledo and ended up dead. The body was decomposed. And so the authorities were not able to get much forensic evidence. There wasn't anything that the authorities could use to try to trap down any particular suspects. In the garage, Bud held me so tight that it felt like I couldn't breathe even more. I had them hug each other and shot one time. I heard the gun go off, but I didn't feel where it went in. There was no pain at that point, but I started screaming, and then they ran out. I think it was because they only had one bullet. The fact that they had only one bullet indicated that there wasn't any premeditation on the part of whoever did this. The urge just took over them to abduct this couple. Because I did not feel the bullet go in me, I thought everything was going to be fine. But Bud made me turn around. There was a big puddle of blood. That's when we realized I was hit. Bud wanted to call the ambulance or the police because he was afraid I was going to die right there. I could see our house. But we didn't go home because my son was there. If I did die, I wouldn't have wanted to be in the apartment with him there. The first house we went to, they wouldn't answer the door. The second house, there was a little old lady. She'd seen me bleeding, and she told us to go away. And I thought, I'm dead for sure, because I couldn't keep moving from house to house with a bullet in me. It was at the third house. The man, he let me come in. Bud sat me there and called the ambulance. The wait seemed like forever. I was bleeding all over the place. I had a hard time breathing. And I got really weak. Everything was like a blur. I thought pretty sure I was going to be gone. I was not going to make it. And then I blacked out I trying to start the year strong But by the time I get through a long day the last thing I want to do is cook something from scratch That's where Tempo has been such an enormous help for me. I open the fridge, grab a Tempo meal, pop it in the microwave, and in literally two minutes, I have real food, not a sad desk lunch or drive-through fast food. Tempo delivers fresh, chef-crafted, dietician-approved meals right to your door. And they actually taste like something you'd order from a nice cafe, not the freezer aisle. I've been loving the protein-packed options for dinner. Perfectly portioned, satisfying, and I don't feel weighed down afterward. And with 20 new recipes every week made from nutrient-rich ingredients, it genuinely keeps things interesting, so I'm not eating the same thing every night. I also love that there are meals for whatever season I'm in. protein packed with up to 30 grams of protein, calorie conscious when I want something lighter, and even GLP-1 balanced meals. It's convenient, but it's also flexible enough to fit how I like to eat, whether that's a quick lunch between recordings or no fuss dinner when I'm too tired to think. Tempo makes sticking to healthy habits feel easy instead of like another chore. For a limited time, Tempo is offering my listeners 60% off your first box. Go to Tempomeals.com slash survived. That's Tempomeals.com slash survived for 60% off your first box. Tempomeals.com slash survived. Rules and restrictions may apply. When I woke up in the hospital, I remembered everything. The two men. The rape. The gunshot. Bud was hysterical. So they sedated him. The doctor said that my right lung collapsed and the bullet hit my pancreas, my liver, and then I had internal bleeding in my ovaries. I was in the hospital for four weeks. When the police come out, I was able to give them a full description. That description was two black men, one bearded, one wearing a green army coat, and one of the attackers had been identified identified as Tony. That matched the description in the Sandra Begorski and Thomas Gordon case. At that point, police believe that they're dealing with possibly serial killers. Just two weeks later, the police found the body of 12-year-old Dawn Backus. She was found in an abandoned theater in the basement. Picked up the cinder block and threw up the cinder block on the head. In late March, another young couple, Scott Moulton and Denise Zajkowski, were brutally murdered. Opened up the trunk and fired multiple times to make sure that they were dead. Just a few months later, Darryl Cole and Stacey Belanick were found in the trunk of their car, beaten to death. I had used it down before, and I They want to get a consistent M.O. and they conveniently brought a baseball bat. This was a really terrifying time in Toledo. Bodies were starting to pile up. The police still had no suspects. Then in September, a tragic event blew the case wide open. Todd Sabo, Leslie Sawicki, and Leslie's father, Peter Sawicki, were attacked by an individual in the back of a van. A fight broke out and the suspect shot Peter Sawicki and Todd Sabo multiple times. Tragically, Peter ends up dying. The police were able to get a detailed description of the attacker from both Leslie and Todd. He was a bearded black man. That certainly matched the description in several other attacks. Ultimately, the sketch artist was able to draw a picture that could be disseminated into the public. Several days later, a police informant said that, hey, that looks like my friend Tony Cook. Tony Cook was a handyman. And back in the 70s, he actually served some time for armed robbery. Anthony Cook perfectly matched the sketch. So the police arrest him. They had him in the Peter Sawicki case because you had two surviving witnesses who both identified him. Police believe that Tony Cook was behind the other attacks but unfortunately they did not have any concrete evidence to tie him to those cases On March 13 1982 Anthony Cook was convicted of killing Peter Zwicky, and he received a life sentence. But there's still one big problem. Police know that there is a second suspect out there, and they still haven't caught him. I worried about the other one. I was afraid that he could find me. Police knew that Peter Sawicki's murder was the one that Tony Cook committed by himself, but there were two men involved in many of these killings, and by some of the descriptions given to them, that person did sort of match Tony's younger brother, Nathaniel Cook. Unfortunately, a photo of Nathaniel Cook was put in a lineup, and neither Sandra Pagorski or Cheryl Bartlett were able to identify him. He just kind of blended back into society for the next 15 years. And when you think about Cheryl, it meant she had to live with the fear for the longest time. Maybe he's here. Maybe he's looking for me. I was constantly watching over my shoulder. 15 years later, in 1997, the Lucas County prosecutor learned some new information about DNA testing. So they decide to use this new tool on some of the unsolved murders back in the 1980s. In Sander Pagorski's underwear, they found some semen stains, and when they sent it away for testing, they were able to actually determine that there were two distinct profiles. Tony and Nathaniel Cook. Nathaniel Cook was immediately arrested, And of course, Anthony Cook was already serving time in prison. Both were charged with the murder of Tom Gordon and the rape of his girlfriend, Sandra. When I found out that they finally caught both of them, I thought everything was going to be okay. And I felt relieved. At this point, the police want to solve all these other crimes, too. Unfortunately, they don't have DNA evidence to connect the brothers to those crimes. Eventually, the prosecutors cut a deal. They agreed to let Nathaniel Cook out of prison after 20 years if they admitted to everything. Both brothers thought this was a good deal, so they agreed to talk. Let's start on Bartlett, the one in the garage. Can you fill us in on that one? Tony ultimately admitted to all the killings. The police certainly believe that he was involved in others. Nathaniel only admitted to killing three. Dawn Backus, Tommy Gordon, and Connie Sue Thompson. Tony Cook received another life sentence. Nathaniel Cook actually received 20 years because of the plea deal. I felt relieved and I was happy that they were put away, but my life was never the same again. Bud and I separated probably about a year after it happened. He couldn't cope with me being attacked. This case highlights the different faces of humanity. on the one hand you had pure evil, but on the other hand, you have the strength, the perseverance, the courage of Cheryl. What I want to say to Anthony and Nathaniel is you may took my innocence and my dignity away when I was 18, but I'm 58 years old right now and there's nothing you can do no more to harm me or hurt me. I was able to rebuild my life. I am through with being a victim. I am a survivor. Get it off. Woo! 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