Rotten Mango - #262: Killer Breaks Down Crying After 8-Year-Old Victim is Found ALIVE (Case of Jennifer Schuett)

Episode Date: May 21, 2023

For two decades, Dennis Bradford concealed a haunting secret, a secret so sinister that it remained hidden from every soul on this planet—his ex-wife, his current wife, his own children. The only person that knew, died with his secret 20 years ago. Yet 20 years later, he was unexpectedly summoned to an interrogation room, Dennis found himself under scrutiny, bewildered as to why the authorities had suddenly turned their gaze upon him. As the detectives confronted him, their words pierced his consciousness like icy shards. "Remember that innocent eight-year-old girl? The one you subjected to unspeakable torment, her throat slit, left vulnerable upon an anthill to face her demise?" “She’s alive and she’s been hunting you down every single day for the past 20 years.” Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rambles. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are, whenever we need it, download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier or pay to description starting at $12.99 per month. Better being better. We're talking about Dennis Bradford. Dennis Bradford had been keeping a secret for the

past 20 years. That's a very long time. Like not a single person knew his deep dark secret that he has been just holding inside of him. He made sure that nobody knew, nobody found out. His life depended on it. His ex-wife, his current wife, his children, his legally adopted children, none of them knew what he did 20 years ago. The only person that knew his secret, they died with the secret 20 years ago.

And that was his only comfort. That was the only reason he could sleep at night. That was the only thing that kept him going. But almost 20 years to the day that he had his big secret, he was pulled over for this routine stop. And somehow Dennis found himself in this interrogation room for a routine traffic stop. So things are going down. He's being asked about that dark day from 20 years ago and what happened. And you know, he's being asked all these things that make him feel like someone

out there knows his secret. I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why would they suddenly ask him these questions about a day from 20 years ago, maybe the detectives read his mind, because they looked at him and they let him know. Hey, you know 20 years ago? You know that little eight year old girl that you left in a field, completely naked, the one that you tortured, and then slit her throat from ear to ear?

That girl, the only one that knows what you did? Well, she's alive. And she's been hunting you down every single day for the past 20 years. She was the one that caught him. This was his reaction. So let's talk about the incredible survivor story of Jennifer Shewitt and Dennis Bradford's dark secrets because you would have more than just this one secret that he's hiding. As always full show notes are available at RottenMinglePotCats.com but with that being said, let's get into the story. There were a group of kids that were gathered to play at the field. It was like the best type of field to play in and when you're a kid I used to love fields with long grass

It's so much better than an empty flat field because you feel like you can hide better and it's just more of an adventure You feel like you're in the jungle. So that's what these girls are doing They're probably between the ages of six and ten years old So you know, they're pretty young and they would all huddle around in a little center of the field And they decide who's it. They're like, you're at this time. You're going to be the one chasing all of us and then all of them would just make a run for it. They would just web out into these different directions and just terrorlessly run through the field. They would turn their head back recklessly every so often just to

see, just to see if that person is close to catching them. So they're screaming, shouting, giggling, they're not being quiet, you know, but most importantly, they're being very, very carefree. They're kids. They're acting like kids. It's a beautiful thing. Now, one of the young girls was running so fast she could feel her hair just blowing in the wind and the grass was tickling her all through her sides and she's looking back and she's laughing because she's getting ahead and boom she falls face first onto the ground. She had tripped on something. I guess due to the overgrown grass she didn't see it earlier but she turns to her left or her right to see what she tripped on. Maybe it's a giant tree branch a discarded tire you know who knows a log. She ran a discarded tire, you know, who knows, a log? She looks down and sees that she had tripped on another girl.

The foot of a naked eight-year-old girl who had her throat slit ear to ear, who had been left for dead, I mean, she was practically on her last breath. I mean, it's pretty disturbing to think about while these kids were playing Jennifer, a child who's not that far an age from them was barely holding on to life in that same field. I mean, she had been there for over 14 hours, paralyzed, in shock, losing blood actively dying. And Jennifer had tried to move, you know, for the past 14 hours, she tried to move, she

tried to set up or at least crane her neck to see where she was, but all she felt was stinging all over her body. She was frozen, she couldn't even roll over, it's like her body was still unconscious and her mind body connection had been obliterated. She's trying her best to figure out where she is, but all she could do was move her eyes back and forth and scan the area. Even though she tried to scream, nothing came out. It's like one of those nightmares where you just, you want to scream, nothing's pushing out, you feel this strange sensation, so Jennifer is able to force her right hand, her neck, her throat, and it feels so weird.

There was something thick and wet on her neck, and suddenly she felt pain. She lifts her hand in the air, and she sees blood, like a whole lot of blood. Jennifer's arm went cold, I mean it collapsed, she went cold again. I mean all over her body there was just wounds, tiny wounds everywhere. You know where she had been left in the field? Someone had discarded her on top of a fire ant hill. Oh my goodness. She was completely unclothed.

There were hundreds and thousands of fire ants biting every single surface of her body that they could find. Jennifer had been tortured, assaulted, her throat had been slit, and left for dead on a fire and hill. So Jennifer gets rushed to the hospital where police officers, doctors, nurses, I mean her mother, everyone is telling her she's safe now, everything's gonna be okay now. And it wouldn't be for a while that they discovered that whoever did this, the monster that did

this to her was also a patient in that same hospital, the same time that she was there. Oh yeah, it gets really crazy. So let's start from the beginning. Jennifer says, you know, when you're a kid, you think there are monsters in your closet. But when you become an adult, you realize the monsters are outside your window. And I think most adults out there do everything they can to protect these innocent little children for as long as they can, but sometimes these monsters find a way, like no matter how much

you try to keep them out, they find a way in. That's probably one of the scariest things about becoming a parent, just protecting your children from the scary world. So Elaine, Jennifer's mom, was very nervous when she found out she was pregnant. I mean, it would just be her. She was going to be a single mom. I mean, it's a total mix of emotions. She's frightened, hesitant, excited, but also very, very lost.

But once baby Jennifer was born, the two of them were like this. Like, they're inseparable. I know it sounds like a cliche. Okay, I know it sounds like one of those, she lit up the rooms, but I'm telling you, the two of them had this incredible bond. I mean, think Gilmore Girls. Like it's just the two of them in this scary world. They only have each other.

Most people said they were more like best friends than they were mom and daughter. They kind of had this perfect life going for them. You know, they rented this ground floor apartment in a nice area in Texas, Dickinson. And it's a small town. It's basically known for a faith family football, one of those towns. And at this point in time, Jennifer was on summer break. She just finished second grade.

And even though she's excited that she's on break, she's also very excited to go back to the third grade. I mean, Jennifer said that she loved life. She loved life. She loved school. She loved all of her school friends. She loved learning. I mean, this was the best time in her life.

She was so carefree. She loved hanging out with all of her friends, but more importantly, she liked hanging out with her mom. So naturally, Jennifer liked to sleep in her mom's room. And she's eight. Okay, she's got her own room. And her room is great. It's decorated all cute,

but she's just really like sleeping with her mom, I think. I mean, when you're a kid, there is no other comfortable feeling than sleeping with your parents in the same bed as them. No? Okay, okay, okay. Okay, I feel like I don't remember a single time that I felt more at peace than at those ages.

When you're just sleeping with your parents because you can just turn your brain off It's just the ultimate comfort. So when summer evening, August 10th, 1990 Jennifer and her mom are settled in her mom's bed. Elaine had worked the next day, right? Because you know, there's no summer break when you're in a dull and you get a job Shocking so she tells Jennifer, we gotta sleep early. I gotta wake up early for work and then we've got some childcare coming for you, but like it's a whole thing. So they tell each other good night, turn off the light, and both of them start drifting

off. And then boom, Elaine jerks awake. And another boom. Jennifer is fast asleep and is kicking her. I mean, she's probably sprawled out on this bed like a starfish at this point. Elaine is getting bullied off of her own bed by her eight-year-old daughter. And she's got no room to sleep. She's trying to push Jennifer to the side, but Jennifer's not budging.

So she gently wakes up, Jennifer. Sweetie, I'm so sorry, but you're kicking me in your sleep and I've got work in the morning. Would you mind going to your own room tonight? Jennifer wakes up and says, because I love you, mom, I will. I got in my own room. So she grabs her little pillow, and this is the exact conversation.

She rolls out of her mom's bed and walks into her room, which her room has this twin bed next to the window, which is probably why Jennifer's mom didn't go to Jennifer's room herself. It's a small, like a kid bed, this twin bed next to the window, which is probably why Jennifer's mom didn't go to Jennifer's room herself. It's a small, like a kid bed, a twin bed. She's got a nightstand beside that with a globe on top of it.

And it just looked like your average cute eight year old room. So typically, if Jennifer sleeps in her own room, Elaine will go over there, tuck her into bed, read her bedtime story, they do their eye-law views, check under the bed for monsters, check in the closet for monsters, then finally turn off the light, and then Elaine would leave the room. But technically they already did all of that, and since Jennifer was already sleepy, everyone just assumed that she would just go into her room and fall asleep again.

But when Jennifer opens the door to her room, it's so dark. So she starts getting a little freaked out, okay? She flicks on the little light bulb lamp that she has, which sounds like a light bulb, but it was actually a light bulb-shaped lamp that had a light bulb inside. So she liked to keep the light on because you know, she's eight and monsters are scared of the light. So her version of monsters at this point are furry bears with claws like think monsters ink. She's not thinking people outside, people inside, she's thinking monsters ink. She flicks on the light and she decides I can't fall asleep right now so I'm just going

to go through my bedtime routine by myself. I'm going to pick a book from my shelf and start reading it in bed and hopefully I'll fall asleep. That was the whole plan. She starts reading to fall asleep and although the lamp was still on and bright, Jennifer drifts off into sleep in no time. She's like knocked out. Now, a couple of things to note. Her shades were not drawn or they were not closed. So there was no curtain or shades or blinders that were blocking her window. Her light is on and her window was open a crack to let in that nice summer Texas breeze. Jennifer had a nightmare. Release Felt like she was having a nightmare, okay.

One where she was getting tossed around like a doll and she opened her eyes expecting to be in bed still but she looked up to see her body being moved by a man that she did not recognize. He was carrying her. He had one hand over her mouth and her nose and he's booking it down the sidewalk. He's running full speed while she's being popped around in his arms and she's trying to hit him to make him stop and let go, but she's eight. This is a full grown man. Jennifer was barely four feet. She weighed under 50 pounds.

Yeah, this man overpowered her in every single physical aspect. But I think that's where some people underestimate children, okay? Jennifer was very, very sharp. Even while she was being smothered by this giant hand, she wanted to stay alert. So she's looking around and she thinks to herself two doors, blue yucky paint. Wow. That was the car that this man threw into. He gets in, locks the car doors, and within seconds they were already on the road. He forces Jennifer to sit on his lap and he had one hand on the wheel and another hand on her head to yank her head down anytime another car passed them. Jennifer was so terrified. She's just analyzing the situation, trying to find a way out when

finally the man speaks. It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. I'm an undercover police officer. A police officer. Jennifer felt a little bit better because at the time, this isn't the 90s, 1990s. Most parents, most teachers tell their children, if you get lost and can't find your parents, what do you do? You find the police. I mean, there was ultimate trust in the police at the time.

There was ultimate trust for the general public. For doctors, teachers, there was no concept of like don't listen to these authority figures because they might not be good people. So Jennifer is confused. I mean, what is going on? I'm supposed to trust this guy. I want to believe him, but there is just something so off about him. He doesn't feel like a police officer. So she tells him, well, can I see your gun in batch then? I don't have my gun or batch with me right now. What? Jennifer was confused, but she looks up and right at that moment, she sees that they're driving past her grandparents house. So Elaine's

parents house, they live nearby, and she's eagerly telling him, oh, that's my grandparents like you should drop me off here. You need to drop me off because they can help me. If you're a police officer and you took me because I'm in danger, you need to drop me off with my grandparents. He didn't stop driving. And Jennifer realized if he was a police officer, surely he would have taken her to a trusted family member's house, right? This is the moment that Jennifer started to believe that she was being kidnapped, but she didn't just panic. She was quick on her feet. She remembered looking at him and repeating in her head, glasses, mustache, yucky hair, scar on face.

Suddenly, the car stops moving and Jennifer pops her head up and she sees that the stranger pulled into the parking lot of her elementary school. Did he know it was her school? Did he pull into the lot by chance? I don't know. But he tells her and it's very strange. He tells her, look at the window at the moon. When the moon changes colors, your mom will meet us here to pick you up. Mind you, Jennifer has never seen the colors

of the moon change before, so what is he even saying? She tries to say hopeful though, and she stares out the window, just waiting for the headlights to approach, but they never approach. I mean, it felt like an eternity that she's waiting for the headlights to approach, but they never approach. I mean, it felt like an eternity that she's waiting for her mom. Later it's expected that he was using this time to psych himself up for what he was about to do next. He kept offering her to eat some candy, but Jennifer knew better. She's like, no way.

Absolutely not. A stranger giving me candy. Nope. And she starts trying to think of a way out because it was clear to her that there's no headlights coming. Her mom's not coming. This man's not a police officer. And even if he was, that would have been scarier. She realized she was in extreme, serious danger. He starts driving the car again. And he goes down this gravel road while he tells her, well, your mom's not coming. Jennifer's trying to self-sooth because while this is happening she has no idea what's going on. She doesn't even know

what this man would want with an eight-year-old little girl. She tries not to panic and she makes it her mission to just remember everything. She remembers seeing cigarettes, marbos, the red and gold ones, empty beer cans, bottles, she remembers all of this. And then finally the car turns off, and the man pulls her out into this overground field with tall grass. He lunges for her throat, and holds a knife up to it. Am I scaring you little girl? Am I scaring you? She said he dropped the knife and started choking her over and over and over again. She was completely blacked out, and when she came to, he would choke her again, and she would black out, and it again. She was completely blacked out and when she came to, he would choke her again and she would black out

and it felt like he was trying to kill her. It didn't even feel like he was just trying to strangle her but he was full on trying to snap her neck. That's how she felt. She lost consciousness again. And during these times, we later find out that she was brutally assaulted. And the next thing that she felt

was her body being dragged through the field by her ankles. She was barely able to stay awake at this point, let alone even fight back or even move or talk. She felt him drop her legs and walk off. He had already slid her throat at this point. His car door slammed, any drove off, just leaving her in the field for dead. Anytime that she woke up and tried to figure out

what the hell was going on, she would fade out into unconsciousness again. She said, I would come in and out of consciousness and every time I would come to, I would just be in disbelief that I hadn't died yet. Now, before she knew it, the sun was rising and it's the next day already. Jennifer could feel all of these little stings

and nips all over her little body and she felt these things crawling and biting her, and she tried screaming for help. But that's when she discovers that big gaping wound, basically a hole in her neck. Her hand was covered in blood. Anytime she tried to hold her neck together, whether from shock or pain or from loss of blood, she would just drift back into darkness. This kept happening all day long. So that's what she was doing drift back into darkness. This kept happening all day long. So that's what she was doing all night long into the morning, then all day long,

until early evening rolls around. And this time, she could hear passing cars on the road. She tried to turn her head to see if she could make out these cars, but all she saw was them driving past in the distance. She can't move, she can scream. And at this point, she said she just felt exhausted. Just tired.

She felt like she had been fighting for so long. It had been at least 14 hours since the man dragged her into the field, completely naked on top of a fire ant hill, beaten, bitten, and her next slit. I mean, she just wanted rest. Jennifer said she felt this kind of peace in this moment, like a wave of peace. She wasn't afraid anymore. She didn't care about the cars that were driving past anymore.

She didn't care to try and move or scream. She didn't even care that there was nearby voices in the field. She just felt very peaceful. At just eight years old, Jennifer was dying. And she closed her eyes one last time thinking it would surely be the last time. I imagine she thought about her mom or her friends from school or... I don't know. But speaking of her friends from school, it felt like she could hear them right now.

Or at least she could hear people right now, like young little kids playing in the field. And those voices started coming closer and closer to Jennifer, and she could make out the sound of a young girl giggling and running through the field laughing with her friends. These weren't Jennifer's friends, but they were all very close to age. That little girl ran giggling, not a care in the world until she tripped over Jennifer's limp foot. Wow, that is crazy. Jennifer remembers the girl's little voice turning into multiple voices that become louder

and louder and it felt like there was a whole commotion over her. She tried to wake up and all she could see was a police officer, which was probably traumatizing. But this one was in uniform and they told her, you've been found, you're gonna be okay. Stay with us. Just please stay with us. What you watch depends on what kind of major in. Sometimes you're craving comedies like friends or South Park and sometimes you're more into dramas like HBO's Succession and House of the Dragon.

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comparison rates not available in all states or situations prices vary based on how you buy. Sharon McBride is a pediatric ICU nurse. She clocked in for her night shift and she starts reviewing her patient's charts and her heart drops. She was assigned to a room with an eight-year-old girl, which is the same age as her own daughter, which is always hard for Sharon. But the alarming part about this was that there was a police escort stationed in front

of this eight-year-old girl's room. That could only mean two things when police and pediatrics are involved. It's either child abuse or juvenile offender. Sharon asks around and she gets filled in on what happened and decides it is her mission for however long it takes to make sure that Jennifer heals and gets out of this hospital stronger than before. The doctors and nurses informed Sharon

that Jennifer was airlifted to the hospital via helicopter and everyone thought that she was going to die. Her chance of survival was slim to none, practically nonexistent. Her skin was completely pale, drained of all color and blood. Her body was covered in an anmpite. I mean, every single surface area of her body was bitten by fire ants. She had contusions that indicated that she had been beaten, and of course doctors speculated essay because she was found unclothed in a field with intense scratches on her back.

Jennifer was in and out of consciousness, and the only part of her body that she could control at the time were her eyes. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she just had these, she has these piercing blue eyes that are beautiful and she's staring at the doctors. She's so so scared. I mean the whites of her eyes were bloodshot to the point of being a thick opaque color. So think just red and blue in her eye. And this is so heart-wrenching. But the doctors noticed that anytime a male doctor or a male nurse or any male staffer would come anywhere near, her eyes would widen and panic. Reaffirming their belief that something horrendous had happened before she was left for dead.

Her mom was in a lot in the room because they're performing life-saving treatments and they can't risk a parent intervening, so they need to focus all their attention on saving Jennifer. The hospital decides female doctors and nurses would be taking the lead when Jennifer is conscious and they would be reassuring her that she was safe and nobody was going to hurt her. She's rushed into the OR and Jennifer was put to sleep once more and they called this ENT specialist.

So ENT eyes nose throat, right? Her ears nose throat. And because Jennifer's trachea had been slashed in half, that's why she couldn't scream. I mean, it was a genuine miracle that this laceration on her neck missed all of the major blood vessels. If the knife had gone any deeper or had cut any wider, it would have resulted in practically instant death in that field, because all the vital blood vessels in that neck she would have blood out instantly. Wow.

So yeah, the doctor's work to ensure her airway is intact and that the bleeding has stopped, but it's not a day to celebrate, like it's not a good day. Every single medical professional in that OR knew that Jennifer would never be able to speak again. The trauma to her throat was so extensive it slashed her voice box her vocal cords were slashed in half there was just no way. So being caught up to speed Sharon was adamant that she was going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Jennifer feels safe nurse Sharon.

She's not going to allow anyone to re-traumatize this young girl. Sharon would slip into the room and watch Jennifer even when she's slept and she just could feel all these tears threatening to come out because all she can think about is her daughter at home like who is doing this to someone this young. Sharon was a seasoned nurse though. Whenever she was scared or emotional she never let it show. She said standing there looking at Jennifer, the fact that this little eight-year-old girl had suffered something like this, horrendous drama.

My heart aches for her. What on earth was her life gonna be like now? How was this gonna affect the rest of her life? So no matter what Jennifer was doing, Sharon was always in her room, even if she was sleeping, even if she was eating, Sharon literally never left her side. Jennifer's mom was also allowed to be there now, and she was beside herself, with grief and anger. She had woken up the next morning to get

ready for work. She slowly opened Jennifer's door, expecting her to still be fast asleep, but instead, her bed was empty. Jennifer was nowhere to be seen, and the window was wide open. She called 911, and she had not stopped searching for Jennifer until she got the But instead her bed was empty Jennifer was nowhere to be seen and the window was wide open She called 911 and she had not stopped searching for Jennifer until she got the call that she was in the hospital And now just like nurse Sharon she's not gonna leave Jennifer aside Sharon quickly becomes one of the first few people that Jennifer trusted So Jennifer later said that she was very difficult to deal with in the hospital Which I don't agree with it, but she said, you know, I had a lot of male doctors.

I was scared of men now. And said, no, the man who assaulted her told her he was a police officer and she said, I learned in school that police were good. The man that hurt me said he was a police officer and he hurt me really, really bad. So in my eyes, who's to say that these doctors can be trusted? Like at that point, everyone was suspect in my book. At one point she even kicked one of the male stomachs in the doctor to get him away from her.

And she was just in this constant state of fear and panic in the hospital which is not good for your recovery. Now just a clarifying case I forgot to mention, Jennifer was able to move now after her operation. She was actually never paralyzed in a sense. It was just fear, pain, and trauma that prevented her from moving because her body went into ultimate survival mode. So she's like kicking these male doctors, which a lot of them were not offended. They just felt like it was good. It's improvement in her

situation. It's her recovering. She's got strength. She's a fighter. Even just looking into the mirror though, was traumatic for Jennifer. One of her uncles brought her this tinkerbell makeup set as a gift while she was in the hospital. And that's how she saw herself for the first time. She saw blood vessels were bursting in the whites of her eyes, and she just said she felt so, so ugly. That little girl that she saw in the mirror, she's like, I don't know who that girl is. That's not me I mean, it must have been so

alienating and disorienting for her like her reflection was a literal stranger So Jennifer's mom and nurse Sharon. They would be pivotal in catching whoever did this to Jennifer This isn't Dickinson, Texas. Like I said very very small community The players are like we need to catch you did this to Jennifer before everybody starts freaking the fork out and we don't have much to go off of. So right now we've got Jennifer's pajamas that were found in the field. We've got a blue men's t-shirt and a pair of men's underwear that was also discarded nearby in the field where Jennifer was found. But at this point in time, I know you're like looking at me, like, that's amazing, that's all you need. In this point in time, DNA evidence was not specific enough to idea suspect, was it just small sample?

Like DNA back then, you would need like a blood sample, you would need like a, you know, a genuine sample. So these things, they would be kept in evidence, but there's nothing that can be tested that could tell them anything. So, it's pertinent to the police that they catch whoever did this because there is a danger out there to children. The police also had no leads, no potential suspects, no witnesses. The only thing the police had was Jennifer, and there was a lot of concern about talking to Jennifer about what had happened to her.

First of all, she's 8 and this could easily retraumatize her. Second of all, adults alone have a very hard time remembering details, especially after traumatic events. How could they expect an eight-year-old to remember? And third, she was very, very scared of people right now, especially men, and this is a small town in Texas. Majority of the police force were men. And fourth, she couldn't speak or make

noise, so she could just blink or once or twice to say yes or no, and she could either write on a sketch pad, but Jennifer, yes, she's smarter than I would ever be, even at just eight years old, but she does have like the reading comprehension and the writing skills of a second grader, which is to be expected. So they come up with a system where the police would ask Jennifer's mom and nurse Sharon all these questions that they want Jennifer to answer. They would go in with the sketchpad and Jennifer would write down her answers. Her ability to recall traumatic memories and the fact that she was so observant is out

of this world. I mean, these would all lead to be key circumstantial evidence later that would help with the arrest. Eight-year-old Jennifer Shewitt not only survived her abduction, but she remembered almost every single detail about the man who climbed into our bedroom window and can after. And her notes would forever be known as Jennifer's notes. She wrote in detail about what she wore that night, that she was asleep when she was grabbed, that he told her to shut up, that he was white, he had glasses, you know, brown hair, totally green tattoos, black mustache, in his thirties maybe. She even drew a little sketch to show where the scars on his face were, and at the very last page she wrote, he said his name was Dennis.

Wow. So during this process, sharing the nurse who is pivotal in helping Jennifer open up about these details, she was so impressed by Jennifer's memory, but also so devastated. She would say, thank you, Jennifer. That's really good. You did good. And then she would excuse herself, rush out of the room, down the hallway, into a break room. And when she was finally alone, she would lose it. I mean, she would just break down.

After Jennifer's notes were completed, the authorities even brought in a female forensic artist. So she's like a composite sketch artist who's going to talk to Jennifer and start drawing the attacker. This was Jennifer's fourth day at the hospital. She's heavily medicated in excruciating pain, reliving her trauma, but nevertheless, within an hour, they have their composite sketch of the suspects. It's your demand with dark hair, dark eyes, dark eyebrows, and a mustache and stubble all over his chin. He also had a scarorn on his face.

They turn it into the police, and I think this is when Jennifer focuses all of her energy on just recovery now. Now, remember how the first responders said that there's no way she's gonna survive? Well, she did. And remember how they said that she would never talk again? Well, she did.

What? In the hospital, it all started with this tiny little noise, like a soft noise. And everyone just went quiet. So, like, is that even, is that coming from Jennifer? Slowly, but surely, she started to talk. She had to relearn inflection and speech patterns, but all of it returned. I mean, her voice, her octaves, inflection tone, all of it was restored. She was proof that the impossible was possible. Jennifer now jokes as an adult and I haven't shut up since. But

even though she's defying all these odds, okay it's still very scary for her to go back to the normal world because her attacker is still out there somewhere. What if he comes back to finish the job? What if he comes back to make sure that she will never be able to talk about it again? Nobody would have blamed Jennifer if she wanted to move, if she never wanted to leave the house again, if she wanted to switch schools, move states, but she started third grade at the same time all of her classmates did. Wow.

Yeah. So she went straight back from summer break to school. Mm-hmm. And they didn't move? I think they moved apartments, but not towns. Wow. So Jennifer got closer and closer to how her life was, but the police are getting further and further from catching the attacker.

Days turned into weeks, and you know how it goes. It was a cold case. Jennifer is an adult, she's no longer the date-year-old girl, which side note, I know I'm making it out to be like, oh Jennifer is so strong, which she is, oh my gosh, she's so strong. But she also went through a lot, like this was not an easy road where she's like, okay guys, I'm just going to go back to school now and be fine. She remembers being a child, she would lock herself into the bathroom for hours and just stare at the quote ugly long red scar on her neck.

She felt like she did something to deserve this attack. She couldn't participate in PE classes anymore because of her airways. So she would have to go to the nurse's office and she would sit there while the rest of her friends played. She was scared of parking lots of Windows of going to sleep of the dark. She had anxiety panic attacks PTSD Most nights she would just sit up for hours at night just trying to calm herself to sleep

This is what an eight-year-old is going through while the case goes cold The only news that she would hear periodically was that her case was being reassigned to a different officer. This is very bureaucratic, it's like a new officer comes in and they're like, oh, well, you get this case and nothing really happens. And it's a pretty shitty and scary feeling knowing that the person who did this is still out there. But Jennifer, she's trying to move on. She starts working at a public library during college years. She's got a really strong, she's got to move on. She starts working at a public library during college years.

She's got a really strong, she's got a really strong, maternal instinct. Her title, everyone nicknamed her, the children's librarian. Kids just gravitated towards her. They loved her. And she just wanted to have kids one day. That was her dream, to be a mom.

So she falls in love with this man, Jonathan Martinez. The two of them get married, and Jonathan was like the man of her dreams, the one that she wanted to have children with and start a family with. He was like the biggest cheerleader. He knew everything that she went through, to be who she is now. She had to learn to be less afraid of the dark, to sleep alone again. She had to unlearn her deep rooted fear of men, like even doctors and police and men in her life that she could dress, she had to unlearn that fear.

Everywhere she went, grocery store, park, anywhere she would constantly scan all the men's faces looking for any familiarity. She said it could have been our new neighbor, you know, or someone at the post office, someone at the grocery store. I never knew is he watching us? Is he going to come back and finish me off? I never knew, is he watching us? Is he gonna come back and finish me off? I never knew. This is what she would have to go through every day

for the rest of her life, but Jonathan was helping her through it. Even when she was diagnosed with hydro-salpinks, I think, at just 25 years old, he was right there with her. So if you're wondering what that is, it's a condition where your fallopian tubes are blocked, and they're filled with fluid. She was told by her doctors that it was due to complications as a result of the essay

when she was eight. And because they're blocked and filled with fluid, she may never be able to conceive any children. The doctors told her, even with corrective surgery, your chances of becoming a mother naturally are slim to none. The doctors told her even with corrective surgery, your chances of becoming a mother naturally are slim to none. So this devastation just starts hitting again. She's finally moving on from everything that's happened and boom, her life goal, her

life dream to have a family has been shattered. Devastation doesn't even begin to describe how Jennifer felt. The man who did this to her is walking free and she is dealing with the consequences that he forced upon her. An infertility diagnosis alone is very, very traumatic for a lot of people. It's life altering emotional news, but the fact that Jennifer's infertility was directly caused by the fact that she was essayed at eight years old, I can't even imagine this sheer amount of rage and anger I would have felt. Like I don't even think I would be able to function from the hatred I would have for the world and for life.

So while she's in the thick of these emotions from this diagnosis, she gets a phone call from a man named Tim Chromy. Tim Chromy was the new detective that was in charge of her case. It had been 18 years since her attack. 18 years. I mean she's all grown up now and here was another officer taking a look at her case. There had been so many before him that took a look at her case and what. Nothing happened.

I mean, it was more painful to even convince herself that this one, this guy, this one's going to be different. But there was something about Detective Chromy. He called Jennifer personally to let her know that he was taking over and he wanted to meet with her in person. It was the first time she was requested to talk to a police officer about her case. They met for the first time at the police station and honestly, Jennifer was frustrated, she was upset and she let it out.

She thought to herself, here we are 18 years later, like what is this guy gonna do? She met with him and she just starts bawling. She's breaking down and she's saying, it's not even about me anymore, okay? It's not even about what happened to me because what's happened has happened, but that man could still be out there hurting kids. You don't even know how many kids he could have hurt since he hurt me. It's been 18 years. I mean, it's likely I'm not the last or the only one

Detective Krony sat and listened and when he finally spoke he said Jennifer, I will do whatever I can in my power till the end of my career to get you the answers that you need for this case Jennifer said that simple sentence changed my life. For the first time since what happened, Jennifer had hoped that she might get justice. She told Detective Chromy, I want a trial. I want to help and I want a trial. I want to face this guy in court. She said, I want to be able to face the person that wanted to silence me and show them that I came out victorious. So she puts her trust in Detective Chromy and he did not take that lightly, okay?

He felt like he owed her answers. Now, it's 2009, 19 years since the attack, which in police investigations, we know that time is the enemy, like they barely have anything to go off of. Detective Chromy reaches out to the FBI to help with the investigation. And in 2009, this was the year for a lot of new tech. DNA testing had grown significantly. So the police sent the clothes off to Quantico for them to be tested for any sort of DNA that they could find.

Now, side note, the police knew that there would be a long line for DNA testing done at Quantico. And their crime took place 19 years ago. So this case is not going to be a priority, but they had no idea how long it was going to take. Truly. So DNA testing, it's a very lengthy process. It's not like this easy. I just put it in a machine and a computer screen pops up and it says, Hey, we've got this DNA in our system. It's really, it takes a lot of people, the machines are not fast and quick, especially in 2009, to get results turned over is not easy. And not every police station or law enforcement agency

has these machines, so most of them get sent to the FBI. So they've got every single DNA evidence from all these states coming in, they have to prioritize it. What's urgent, who's in immediate danger, what needs to be solved today versus a case happened 19 years ago? It took a year. It took a year for them to get it back. Detective Chromie got a call at 2.30 in the morning.

They had a match. Whoever did this was already in the system So who was it a man named Dennis? Remember that name. Oh my god. That's crazy Dennis Earl Bradford The detectives went back to Jennifer's notes and they saw the name was Dennis They said it was monumental that this girl was that accurate. The detectives thought, well, we never heard of this guy though, but apparently he has a criminal record. They look him up and Dennis or Bradford had been convicted of kidnapping and rape in 1997, seven years after

Jennifer's attack. But they noted that this happened in Arkansas. So as far as the police could track, Dennis had been living in Arkansas since at least 1991. So they call the driver's license bureau in Texas and they try to figure out, okay, well he was in 1991, he was in Arkansas, maybe he was in Texas before then. So let's figure out if he was a resident of Texas before we hunt this guy down in Arkansas because then we got to get multiple agencies involved, right? So they look him up in Texas records and there he was. They were even sent a picture of his Texas license ID picture from back when he was a Texas resident. Their jaw hit the floor. Remember the composite sketch? They said this was the most accurate

composite sketch they had ever seen in their entire careers. It looked like the sketch artist had drawn the picture based off of Dennis' driver's license photo. And the fact that an 8 year old girl did this? Wow. I mean, the details were spot on. It was insane. And when Dennis was in Texas, his residential address was in Dickinson around the time of the crime. Dickinson.

In fact, from Jennifer's apartment window, you could probably see his residence. He only lived a few blocks away. So let's get this done, this guy, okay? Who even is he? Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there. Why aren't you afraid of getting caught at doing this? No, who's gonna catch us? What a police.

It was the height of the crack era, and instead of locking up drug dealers, some New York City cops had become them. I would suit up in my uniform and we're going to want some drug dealers, and I know how to do it really well. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all. Did you consider yourself a rat? 100%. I saved my soul just like everybody else does.

Listen to and follow the set, an Odyssey originals documentary podcast series available now in the Odyssey app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy man, but I love being a dirty mother f***er. Let's backtrack a little and dig into who this guy is, and there's not much on his childhood out there. But he would have been 20 when he attacked Jennifer. Soon after he moved from Texas to Arkansas and we know that he got married at 21 years old to an 18 year old Lisa and they had two kids together, but the marriage would disintegrate. He was a bit of a binge drinker. It seemed like everyone saw Dennis' life and it was just falling apart. Dennis was not

very a good person. He was not a good person. yeah, what can I say? Even though they didn't even know his secrets, just wasn't a good person. They get divorced and in 1996, he's at a local bar when he spots a girl across from the bar and offers to buy her drink. She politely declines, but he keeps asking for all these things, ah, just one drink.

Ah, just play around a pool with me. Ah, let's do this, let's do that. She finally just agrees to get him off of her back. And he proceeds to buy her drink after drink after drink throughout their game of pool. And once they were finished, he offers her a right home. She accepts it, but in his car, he's like, can we take the long way, the scenic route? There's a couple of songs that I want you to listen to, and I want to show you some property nearby. She didn't really want to, but she couldn't control him. He just starts driving down the back road.

He stops the car and without even hesitating, he begins choking and punching the woman. She starts losing consciousness. He drags her out of the car. When she woke up, she was naked. Her clothes were scattered in a field. Dennis told her not to move. He ran back to his car, came back with a knife, put the knife to her neck, and ripped her. Assaulted her. Which side note, his ammo is so similar to the attack on Jennifer in 1990,

it's hard to imagine that this was his second time. I suspect that there were other victims, and the fact that this victim said that he never hesitated, whereas with Jennifer it seemed like he was hesitating, is that him getting more and more comfortable with his crimes the more he commits them? Fortunately, he did not slit this woman's throat, she was able to flee and alert the police. He was arrested and charged with attempted first degree murder. Now for some strange reason, the charges were later reduced to kidnapping and rip. Now side note, this is infuriating, but the jury, they were deadlocked on the sexual assault charge. How do you get deadlocked on that? How are you deadlocked when this man put his knife to her throat and then assaulted her?

Like, how do you convict him of kidnapping, but then you're somehow confused? You're like, well, we don't know if he's that bad. I mean, what is there to be confused about? My suspicion is that this case was a situation of, well, what was she doing at the bar? Well, why did she drink so much? Well, she consented to drinking with him. Well, why did she let him take her home

unless she had plans? That is my suspicion. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. He was sentenced to 12 years and ordered to provide a DNA sample for the database. Arkansas correction record showed that he served less than three years in prison before he was released. He was paroled February of 2000. He was arrested the next year for drinking and driving. And in 2004, Dennis remarried a woman named Elizabeth.

She had three children before marrying Dennis, and he legally adopted them, legally becoming their stepfather, which scares me because I didn't think about it. He's a father and a stepfather, creepy. Now, from then on, we don't know what he was doing. We don't know if he had any other victims, but we do know that he was in North Little Rock

when he was arrested during a routine traffic stop without incident. He was arrested by the Arkansas police, brought into the station where the Texas detectives were there to meet him. He was held without bail on the attempted murder charge. When Jennifer got that call, that he was arrested, she said, it was the most surreal moment in my life. It meant everything to me.

When she went to the press conference a little bit after the initial arrest, she remembers how Detective Gromy and Agent Renaissance from the FBI came into the room and hugged me, and they whispered in my ear, we told you we'd get him. And at that time, that was the single most amazing moment of my life. But they still had work to do. Even though the case testimony and evidence is already incredibly accurate, Detective Gronese still had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dennis was responsible for the attack. And since 19 years had passed, it's going to be harder to do. So after Dennis was booked, he was interviewed about Jennifer's

case from 19 years ago. Now, side note, because Jennifer was a minor when this happened and it was an ongoing investigation, the information in case files were not publicized. So that means the last time Dennis saw Jennifer was when he dumped her body in the field 19 years ago. He believed wholeheartedly that she was dead. Because that was his intention, he left her for dead on top of a nant pile.

He firmly believed he killed that eight-year-old little girl. He had no reason to believe otherwise. The detectives start by asking him if he had ever heard of Jennifer Shoeit. Yes, he stated that he remembered hearing in the community talking about, you know, a girl that was left in the field and he prayed for her. Did you ever have occasion to come in contact with her? Yes, tell me about it. No, you don't want to talk about it? No, is there a reason why you did your homework? You're right, Dennis, we did do our homework.

And if you're more useful about this, people need to hear that. There's two sides to every story Dennis starts to tear up before saying not a single day goes by where I don't see that baby there is no other side to the story she was innocent and I was a sick, deranged, beat up little fucking punk she wasn't anybody I met I don't remember why I pulled up to those apartments

huh well I think if you were to see her, I think you would be extremely proud. I really do. Dennis breaks down sobbing and says, she's alive? She's alive? Yes, she's alive. And let me tell you something right now.

She's with us. Dennis explains he was randomly driving around that night and pulled into a random lot and he stated, I walked over to the window, I remember it was open and I could see in it and the light was on. And I just want this to be over and I'm sick and tired of looking over my shoulder and being afraid so forgive me mom. I pulled that little girl out of that window and I put her in my car.

She was freaking out and I told her please don't worry it's alright. I told that little girl that I was a police officer, that everything was going to be okay and I pulled off into this little road and that little girl shoes so scared. I just lost it. I was like a savaged animal. I couldn't force myself to say it and I can't force myself to say it right now. This has been haunting you your whole life, Dennis. Let's hear it. you your whole life Dennis. Let's hear it. I took that little girl out there and I ripped her and I cut her throat and I don't know why and I've never known why. Many many times I've just wanted to end it but I never had the guts. He told the police officer that he used a shotgun to try and end his own life shortly after

what he did to Jennifer but he decided not to. He did however blow a hole through his parents' roof and he was brought into the hospital after his attempt. The same hospital that Jennifer was in, the same hospital Jennifer was recovering in. Jennifer had every right to be afraid of this guy, because he was in the same hospital. But ultimately, Dennis confirms all the details that she remembered and he confesses to it all, and Jennifer was so relieved. At the press conference, she declared, I'm not a victim.

I'm victorious. Jennifer had waited 19 years for this. And now she focused all of her attention on prepping for this trial. Dennis admits to the crime. He matched the description, he matched the DNA, and they were planning to go for a life sentence. She had routinely went to the field that she had been abandoned in, not constantly, but several times she would visit so that she said, I just really wanted to be able to remember

all the details of the attack. So that one day if I ever could, I could go to court and tell my story the way it was. Wow. Now, he was supposed to appear in front of the judge on August 10th, Jennifer had picked the date, exactly 20 years of the day of the attack. She said it was a full circle moment. She stayed up countless nights prepping for her statement.

She said, writing it, erasing it, writing it, erasing it, just trying to perfect it. She had 19 years of things she wanted to say, but she wouldn't be able to do it. Or at least not the way she imagined. She gets a call from Detective Chromy. And her heart dropped, she already knew. Dennis had hanged himself in his jail cell after confessing. He made a news from his bedding and there was no signs of foul play, it was definitely suicide. So he died 40 years old May 10th, 2010.

It's believed that Dennis was a serial predator to children and adults. He knew that his life was over the minute he was caught. More of his crimes would likely surface. He knew the things that other inmates would do to him if he spent the rest of his life in prison. So instead of taking these consequences, facing the consequences, he took the quote easy way out. Detective Kromi remembers this phone call. He said he'll never forget this phone call. He said, there was just crying and screaming on the other end of the phone. She didn't want to believe it. The only thing I could do was just tell her I was sorry.

Jennifer said, the only thing I can describe is devastation. I felt like everything I had worked so hard for was just ripped away from me in an instant. And now that Dennis was deceased, his case was immediately dropped, and Jennifer felt like she could go to his grave. She had to. Exactly 20 years later, instead of going to court,

Jennifer and her husband went to Dennis' grave, August 10th of 2010, and she read her impact statement later, instead of going to court, Jennifer and her husband went to Dennis' grave, August 10th of 2010, and she read her impact statement that she had prepared for court, and she read it directly to Dennis while standing over his dead body. She read, Dennis Bradford, I waited 19 years, two months, and three days to find out your last name, and for you to be caught.

You chose the wrong little 45 pound eight year old girl to try and murder because for 19 years I've thought about you every single day and I've helped searching for you. I didn't know who you were or where you were but in my head I knew you're out there alive either in prison or living a lie and now I know listening to my heart all these years and never giving up on finding you, I was right. All this time you've been living a lie. You thought you killed me, you thought you won, that sick little game that you had started, but again you were wrong.

You left me there, in a fire ant pile like I was nothing, like I was an old rag doll that you discarded in a field as trash after having your fun torturing her. Over 14 hours I laid there in that field, bleeding to death, knowing that one day I'd face you and to know that you'd never heard another person, that is what has kept me going. And today I sit in front of you as a 28 year old woman and I would like you to know that I'm not a victim because of what happened 20 years ago. I've waited for this day for 20 years of my life. And I hope you now feel as weak as you made me feel all those years ago as a child. Then it's Bradford. I'm not your victim. I'm victorious.

And then the most surreal thing happened. Jennifer turned her husband and asked, do you think he heard me? Ow! She looked down and right then and there, a single fire and bit her ankle. And she took it as a sign from God that he had heard her loud and clear. And to this day, Jennifer, Detective Chromy and Special Agent

Renison, as well as Nurse Sharon, they all keep in contact. Jennifer said, they mean a lot to me. And to know that they're still there, they're still supporting me. They're not leaving me anytime soon, just like I'm not leaving them anytime soon. But the story doesn't even end there. Remember how Jennifer was diagnosed with a condition that made it nearly impossible for her to have her own children?

A doctor heard about her story and heard of her diagnosis, offered Jennifer and Jonathan free IVF. IVF is not guaranteed to work, side note, but just to try, right? The couple have since then welcomed two beautiful children into their family, a daughter and a son, which is remarkable because medical professionals doubted that she would survive. It would take a miracle they said. Medical professionals doubted that she would ever talk again.

It would take a miracle they said. Medical professionals doubted that she could ever conceive from children. It would take a miracle they said. And she did it all. I don't gonna cry. Oh my God. Yeah, she really is a woman that proofs the impossible is possible and nowadays she spends a lot of her time

helping other survivors of essay. She travels to connect with people and to educate people on the pure devastation of these sort of violent crimes. And that is the story of Jennifer Shoeit. What are your thoughts on this? I mean, it's devastating. It's so sad, but the fact that she's so strong and we can all smile at the end is something, right? But I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode and I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode.

Bye. Stay safe. I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode and I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode. Bye! Stay safe!