John Glatt - Cries in the Desert: The Shocking True Tale of a Sadistic Torturer

At about 3:00 p.m. Cindy Hendy went into the main living room to watch more television. Seizing her opportunity, Cynthia Vigil forced herself as far across the bed as the chain that held her would allow, wrapped her feet around the base of the coffee table and slowly pulled it toward her. When it was near enough, she reached over and grabbed the keys, pushing the table back in its proper place.

She then managed to open the padlock, freeing the chain from the wall and tiptoeing across the den to the telephone to dial 911. Her heart was pounding as she waited for the emergency call to go through.

Just as the operator finally answered, Hendy walked in and caught Vigil. Hendy picked up a green glass lamp and smashed it over Cynthias head.

Youre not going anywhere, Hendy screamed as she hung up the phone.

With blood pouring from a deep head wound, Vigil grabbed an ice pick from the table and started hitting Hendy over the head, knocking her senseless.

Then I took off out of the front door and ran and ran and ran....

ST. MARTINS TRUE CRIME LIBRARY TITLES
BY JOHN GLATT

For I Have Sinned

Evil Twins

Cradle of Death

Blind Passion

Internet Slavemaster

Cries in the Desert

Twisted

Deadly American Beauty

One Deadly Night

The Doctors Wife

John Glatt

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

To Susan Chenery:
for her inspiration and help on our never-to-be-forgotten
visit to Truth or Consequences

CRIES IN THE DESERT

Copyright 2002 by John Glatt.

Cover photograph of trailer by John Halpern. Cover photograph of David Parker Ray courtesy AP/Wide World Photos.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 0-312-97756-5
EAN: 9780312-97756-6

Printed in the United States of America

St. Martins Paperbacks edition / June 2002

St. Martins Paperbacks are published by St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8

Over the eighteen months I spent researching and writing this book, I was helped by many close to the David Parker Ray case who steered me through an ever-deepening forest of facts and rumors.

I would especially like to thank Deputy District Attorney Jim Yontz and New Mexico State Police Special Agent Wesley LaCuesta for their patience and time they spent with me working on this book. Much gratitude also goes to Betsy Phillips, the ace local reporter who did a wonderful job covering the case after it broke, plunging Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences into a nightmare of which the scars still remain.

Thanks also to: Frances Baird, Myrna Baird, Josh Bond, Robert Bowers, Jean Branagh, Mike Buss, T or C Sheriff Terry Byers, Sheila Christ, Kathy Clarke, Jennifer Davis, Debra Fiske, Nadyne Gardiner, Gerald Garner, Manny Guiterrez, Rick Hart, Laurie Heiss, Roy Hodges, Leila Holland, Opal Jensen, Bob Johnston, Bill Johnson, Bill King, John Russell-King, Kathy McClean, Dave Kunce, Terri and Marty Lampe, Dave Larson, Audie Miranda, George Padilla, Gil Reavil, David Riviera, Chris Roberts, Meredith Rolloy, Maudie Sisnerous, Craig Storm, John and Fay Teakell.

As always I would like to thank my editor at St. Martins Press, Charles Spicer, and his team, Joseph Cleemann and Anderson Bailey, and my agent, Peter Miller and his gallant staff of Kate and Nathan.

Thanks also to: Susan Chenery, Annette Witheridge, Roger Hitts, Daphna Inbar, Danny and Allie Trachtenberg, Cari Pokrassa, Benny Sporano and Wensley Clarkson.

Chapter One
THE UNFORGIVING DESERT

Chapter Two
DRIFTING

Chapter Three
ELEPHANT BUTTE

Chapter Four
THE TOY BOX

Chapter Five
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

Chapter Six
KELLI

Chapter Seven
SATANS DEN

Chapter Eight
TOY BOY ROY

Chapter Nine
MARIE PARKER

Chapter Ten
JULY FOURTH WEEKEND

Chapter Eleven
CINDY HENDY

Chapter Twelve
BASS ROAD

Chapter Thirteen
MELTDOWN

Chapter Fourteen
ANGELICA MONTANO

Chapter Fifteen
THE WEAKEST LINK

Chapter Sixteen
CYNTHIA VIGIL

Chapter Seventeen
THE EVIL IN ELEPHANT BUTTE

Chapter Eighteen
THE CONFESSION

Chapter Nineteen
THE NIGHTMARE IS BEHIND BARS

Chapter Twenty
GOD LET THEM FOLLOW THEIR OWN EVIL DESIRES

Chapter Twenty-one
HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?

Chapter Twenty-two
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, T OR C

Chapter Twenty-three
AN ADVISORY TAPE

Chapter Twenty-four
A CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Chapter Twenty-five
THE SLOW WHEELS OF JUSTICE

Chapter Twenty-six
THE TRIAL

Chapter Twenty-seven
MISTRIAL

Chapter Twenty-eight
A NEW BROOM

Chapter Twenty-Nine
DENOUEMENT

Nothing ever happens in Elephant Butte, a tiny lakeside community in the middle of the New Mexico desert. And that is the main attraction of the sleepy town for the 2,500 mainly elderly residents. Lying seven miles from the nearest traffic light in neighboring Truth or Consequences, the pace of life is reassuringly slow. People come to escape the stresses of the city and the northern winters, seeking tranquility and warm weather at budget prices.

A hundred years ago Apache chiefs Geronimo and Cochise fought the early white settlers along the banks of the Rio Grande. But today a jumble of trailer homes and caravans lazily dot a handful of roads and dirt tracks, spreading out from Elephant Butte Lake, resting in the sharp shadows of the Sierra Mountains.

With its intense blue waters set against the rich red desert, the lake is like a shimmering mirage. Each summer more than a hundred thousand tourists come to sail and picnic in the tranquil park around it, making it one of New Mexicos most popular tourist destinations.

But at 3:15 p.m. on Monday, March 22, 1999, Elephant Butte changed forever when a terrified woman, wearing only a padlocked metal collar with a five-foot length of chain trailing in her wake, burst out of a double-wide trailer into the street. Momentarily blinded by the harsh desert sun, 22-year-old Cynthia Vigil ran for her life like a hunted animal. Covered in blood from a deep head wound, her body was black-and-blue from days of beatings and vicious torture. Nothing but pure fear and instinct drove her along the dirt road track. Her only thought was putting as much space as possible between her and the horrors of the white trailer.

In the three days since being kidnapped off an Albuquerque street, Cynthia had lost all track of time, and had no clue of her whereabouts. She had been whipped, electrocuted and sexually abused by an elderly man named David and his younger fiance, Cindy, in a bizarre chamber of horrors they called the Toy Box.