When paramedics and investigators arrived, the scene inside was so gruesome that more than one seasoned man had to step outside to get air. Even so, all four victims were rushed to the nearest hospital and taken into emergency surgery.
Against the odds, they survived, though Gene came close to dying several times after infection set in. Law enforcement opened a major case and began a full investigation. Detectives questioned nearly everyone in town and dug through every criminal connection the men had.
But the investigation stalled almost immediately for one unexpected reason: the mutilated men refused to identify who had done it.
Whenever detectives asked, they either sat in silence or repeated that they remembered nothing. For weeks investigators could not understand why men that violent would refuse to help catch the person responsible.
Eventually the answer became obvious. They were terrified of whoever had done this to them. They believed that if they said the name out loud, that person would come back and finish the job.
Leah was questioned too, but only as a routine witness. She said calmly that she had been home alone all evening and had not gone anywhere. Investigators found no solid evidence to prove otherwise.
No one in town had seen a lone woman near the garages that night. More than that, neighbors confirmed that the light in Leah’s apartment window had been on all evening. Her main tool—the kitchen knife—had long since been thrown into a deep river…
