- 8 hours ago
Evil Lives Here - Season 19 - Episode 03: He'll Kill Me Next
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:06on my way here I felt nervous one of the things that makes me not want to speak out
00:11is judgment and that comes from me being young and dumb I have a daughter that's the age that
00:22I was when I met Michael and I think about her and other young girls that just want to be
00:27loved
00:27and don't notice the signs you think it's love and it's not and sometimes it's hard to recognize that
00:41the hardest part about reliving my story is just thinking about her thinking about Stephanie
00:48I feel like you'll never know a person no matter how long you with them and to know that I
00:53was just
00:54laying and sleeping next to just an evil man and I look back and it just blows my mind
01:03who was the man that I was sleeping next to at night like I did not know him at all
01:08I wouldn't
01:09even thought that he would be capable of any of these things I feel like Michael was just
01:14pure evil he hid it for a long time
01:19hmm
01:25oh
01:25oh
01:25oh
01:25oh
01:26oh
01:28I don't know.
02:08When I look at him, I just feel, I feel angry.
02:18I feel like he's evil.
02:23I feel like he's a coward.
02:26I don't want to look at him.
02:31I have a lot of, I don't like the word hate, but there's a lot of hatred for him.
02:42And it just makes me upset looking at this person that's just so evil and that manipulated me so bad
02:52and took advantage of me, who I was, my heart.
03:02I do not like this man.
03:28I have four sisters, I'm the oldest out of five.
03:31I feel like my mother didn't love me.
03:34My father was never there.
03:37It was a lot of chaos growing up in my mother's home.
03:44So, I mean, that played a big part in my life.
03:47And still today, it does.
03:51At the time I met Michael, I was 17 and he was six years older than me.
03:56The day that I met Michael, I was walking to the bus stop because I was on my way to
04:01work.
04:02And me and him get to talking and chatting.
04:05He was charming, nice, funny.
04:10And we just connected.
04:12He told me a lot about his childhood.
04:14I told him a lot about my childhood.
04:17I just felt like, you know, we just kind of in a way trauma bonded where we were just connected
04:23with just our past.
04:27That love that I was yearning for, I got it from him.
04:33I was happy with Michael.
04:35We did plan on having a family and just being together.
04:38You know, get married, have kids, just be with that one person.
04:41And it was kind of just like us against the world.
04:50Looking back on it now, he knew how to manipulate me.
04:54And he knew how to just play on my mental and my heart.
04:59And that's what he took advantage of.
05:01But back then, I just felt like, oh my God, this man loves me to death.
05:07And then that's what made me so blind to everything.
05:18When I found out I was pregnant, we were both excited.
05:22I felt in that moment, man, I'm about to have somebody that's got to love me unconditionally no matter what.
05:29So it was a good, happy time for us.
05:32The day my daughter was born was a little hectic because my mom was there.
05:37And Michael always had an issue with my mother because of the things that I would tell him about my
05:43childhood.
05:44So it was happy that everybody was there.
05:46But he also had an attitude.
05:48I want you to leave right now!
05:52And our argument started between them.
05:55Michael was screaming at her.
05:57Leave!
06:01Just for it to get that far was just shocking to me.
06:05So I was really upset about that.
06:12Michael probably didn't want me to have those outside relationships, to have that outside influence.
06:20And I felt in a moment that was his way of trying to protect me from the things that I've
06:24told him that went on in my childhood.
06:30But looking back, I noticed every time we were around my family members, it just triggered him.
06:37Where any little thing would just make him explode.
06:59This is a picture of me and my daughter.
07:05When I look at this picture, I just see the innocent me, the I want to be happy me, the
07:17naive version of me.
07:24I look so happy in this picture.
07:27Having my daughter was kind of the best thing that ever happened to me.
07:32I was just happy to have somebody that I can just love unconditionally.
07:37And I just always knew from the start that I was going to be just the best mother to her.
07:43I should have realized that it's not going to be that happy family that I wanted.
07:48Just, I mean, when I look at that picture, I just feel like this is just a little girl that
07:53just, just didn't know no better.
08:09So when we moved in, we did a lot of decorating together, shopping for furniture.
08:13We were happy.
08:15We spent a lot of time with each other.
08:18And I was happy doing that.
08:22I guess the problem came in at when, when I wanted to do something different.
08:29I remember one day, I wanted to go to my aunt's house.
08:33Michael didn't want me to go.
08:37It was this big back and forth argument between me and him.
08:41He got so upset.
08:42We were both yelling.
08:44And all of a sudden, he just got the punch in the walls.
08:48And as he's punching the walls, all I could see is blood running down from his hands.
08:54And it scared me.
08:57Because I've never seen no one do something like that.
09:02He was just in a rage.
09:04That was the first incident of me seeing him get enraged like that.
09:11But I didn't have the fear of he was about to turn around and hit me.
09:14I felt like he loved me too much.
09:16To actually hurt me.
09:20Come here.
09:22I was concerned about him.
09:24Was he okay?
09:25In that moment, I thought that I would just stay with him to make things better.
09:30If that was triggering him, let's just eliminate that problem.
09:37I was trying to calm him down and kind of de-escalate the situation.
09:42And then he eventually calmed down.
09:45Looking back, Michael was definitely manipulating me and controlling me.
09:50He took advantage of my kind heart, for sure.
09:54Because after the argument, it's like, now I know that that pissed him off.
09:59So, okay, we're not going to do that again.
10:02And I never kind of fought to have it my way.
10:08I felt like he was going to just scare me.
10:12But looking back on it now, it's like, if you love me, why do you want to be scared of
10:18you?
10:26At one point, Michael told me that he needed to go away on weekends to work with his family.
10:31He said that he worked with his cousin.
10:34I didn't question what he was doing.
10:38I just know he was bringing in a lot of money and he was taking care of us.
10:42One day, he called me upset.
10:45And he was saying that some lady stole something from him.
10:50And I asked him what was going on.
10:52What did she steal?
10:53And he got quiet for a second.
10:55And then he told me it was drugs.
10:57What?
11:00And I'm like, that's what you was, that's what you're doing?
11:03That's what you go on the weekends for?
11:04You know?
11:05I told him, like, that's a dangerous life.
11:09And then the woman walked in to wherever he was at.
11:14And all I can hear is her screaming.
11:20You can hear, like, he's hitting her.
11:22Like, you can hear her scuffling and everything.
11:24And she was screaming.
11:26She was saying, help.
11:27She was crying.
11:29And I'm just on the other end, just in shock.
11:33I'm like, what is going on?
11:35Hearing her scream for help.
11:38And her crying.
11:41It's just, I don't know.
11:45It was just shocking to me.
11:51I do wonder, those weekend trips, was he robbing and raping?
11:58Was he killing people that we don't even know if he got caught?
12:02Like, all that went through my head because I really didn't know this man.
12:07At all, when I thought that I did.
12:09I thought I knew him so well.
12:27I was hysterical.
12:29I was upset.
12:30I had a black eye.
12:32When he looked at me, he seen my face.
12:35He was instantly upset.
12:38He was mad.
12:43He told me to stay in the car.
12:46He got out the car.
12:47And then all you heard was gunshots.
12:52Everything happened so quick, so fast.
12:54I was so scared.
12:56I was so scared.
12:56I've never been around a gun before, especially shots.
13:00And I didn't even see the gun, so he must have had the gun on him.
13:02Because I've never seen a gun in our home, on him, around him.
13:06I'm not even sure where that came from.
13:12He shot up their house.
13:15He got back in the car.
13:18I didn't know what to say.
13:21He was really calm and quiet.
13:24I really didn't even ask no questions.
13:26I was still in my mind about everything that happened.
13:31I'm shocked, I'm nervous, I'm scared, because I'm like, what if somebody got hurt?
13:44Polices came from everywhere, all over the place.
13:48They were screaming for him to get down.
13:51And I was terrified.
13:53I went into a great panic attack.
13:54I couldn't even breathe.
13:56And it was just the scariest thing to have, like, all these police out, all these guns out.
14:05They took Michael away.
14:06They put him in handcuffs, put him in the car.
14:08And the whole time I'm worried about him.
14:13And that was my problem the whole time.
14:15Worrying about him and not myself.
14:18But I still stood by him.
14:23I was just determined to just making it work.
14:26At the time, I didn't recognize that he was putting me and our child in danger.
14:43One day, we went to go visit my mom.
14:46Like I said before, Michael just always had an issue with my mother.
14:50When we were over there visiting, he just seemed like he hated her.
14:58And that's what led to them having an argument.
15:01And they were going back and forth.
15:02At that time, I'm like, it's time for us to go.
15:05As we were walking out the door, Michael said that he couldn't wait to see her in her casket.
15:13And at that time, I'm like, what?
15:16He told her that he didn't like her.
15:17And he can't wait to see her in a black dress in her casket.
15:22And I was really shocked.
15:24Because it was, to me, I'm like, where did that come from?
15:28Like, because the argument wasn't that deep.
15:31Where you would wish death on someone.
15:33Because ultimately, that's what he was doing.
15:37He was wishing death upon her.
15:40My mom never liked him from day one.
15:42Always said it was just something about him that she didn't like.
15:47So it's almost like everyone's seen what I didn't see.
16:02One day, Michael and I was having an argument.
16:04And as usual, any little thing is starting to ram him up.
16:11And it's a back and forth thing between him and I.
16:15And out of nowhere, he brings up that he got abused by a family member.
16:21And it just caught me off guard because we wasn't talking about that at all.
16:27And I knew exactly what he was doing when he brung that up out of nowhere.
16:31He was trying to get me to feel sorry for him.
16:35Trying to make the argument be done with by me sympathizing with him.
16:39And I think in that moment, I was getting to the point where I'm just getting tired of it.
16:45So I kind of gave him a, you know, I don't care.
16:51And then he looked at me and he was like, you don't care?
16:55You want to know how I feel to get raped?
17:02And then he pushed me down and he started to grab at my pants to pull them down.
17:10And I was kicking and I'm like, are you serious?
17:13Because in my head, I'm like, what is going on?
17:15I was scared.
17:17Like, that was the first time I felt like, like, scared of him.
17:23And I was crying.
17:25And I didn't know what was going to happen.
17:27And then all of a sudden, he just let me go.
17:35And when he let me go, I went into the room and I got to crying.
17:42So that was the first time that, um, I felt scared to go to sleep.
17:48It was just that fear of not knowing who was the man that I was sleeping next to at night.
17:56Like, I feel like you'll never know a person, no matter how long you're with them.
18:02You never know a person.
18:03And to know that I was just laying and sleeping next to just an evil man.
18:09And I look back and it just blows my mind.
18:15He's capable of doing any and everything, so.
18:23It's hard, right?
18:24Yeah, I gotta take a break, though.
18:34Okay.
18:38Because I don't want to cry about this, you know?
18:41But just thinking about it, just.
18:50I just think about just the young me and just seeing her and wishing she knew better.
19:10So, yeah.
19:15It's heartbreaking.
19:20You know?
19:24I'm gonna get a bigger break.
19:30Okay.
19:59It's hard for me.
20:07Like I said before, I haven't allowed myself to really feel any feelings about this situation.
20:13So, I have a lot of built-up emotions.
20:18I haven't really grieved this situation.
20:20So, when I'm talking about it now, this is something I don't talk about.
20:25And me just processing everything, it's put me back in those moments.
20:34And it's hard for me.
20:36Because I have disattached from it for so long.
20:39Due to the Michael situation and my upbringing has caused me to be really guarded and hold my emotions in
20:46a lot.
20:48So, it's uncomfortable because now I'm being very vulnerable in this moment.
20:54And that's different for me.
21:05I was starting to feel like it just wasn't gonna work, no matter how much I've been trying to make
21:10it work.
21:11Just one thing got to the other.
21:14I felt like I wasn't happy anymore.
21:17I know I want it better for myself, for my daughter.
21:22That night that he could have raped me, I felt scared of him.
21:26And I've never felt scared of him.
21:28And the fighting was just getting worse and worse.
21:32And it's just like, I never wanted to live my life that way.
21:35Michael.
21:38So, one day I just finally got fed up and didn't want this life with him anymore.
21:44And I told him that I was gonna leave.
21:48And he just went crazy.
21:51He just got to breaking up things in the house, throwing things around.
21:55He tore up the whole apartment.
21:57It was chaos.
21:59When he was doing that, I was in that corner just looking at him.
22:03I really didn't have anything to say.
22:06I felt like if I said anything, it was gonna escalate it more.
22:10It was just stuff everywhere, glass everywhere.
22:13And I just sat there because I just couldn't say anything.
22:18I ended up calling the police.
22:21They came.
22:22They escorted him out.
22:24I think he thought he'll be back.
22:29He's completely different from the man that I met.
22:32The man that I met was nice, kind-hearted, gentle, loving.
22:44He was just being really nice and sweet, kind of like how he used to be.
23:09He began to tell me, like, we should get back together, give him another chance.
23:15And I told him, like, I'm done.
23:16And he kept on asking.
23:18So I kind of said it in a real stern tone, like, I'm done.
23:23I don't want to be with you anymore.
23:29And he looked up at me.
23:32I mean, the coldest look I've ever seen.
23:35And he said, I'm gonna make sure we're done.
23:40And then, um, hold on.
23:50Okay.
23:53So he said, I'm gonna make sure we're done.
23:57And he grabbed me.
24:00And he began to choke me.
24:01And I could just remember my feet kicking.
24:04I'm not really thinking about anything.
24:06I just remember my feet kicking and kicking and kicking.
24:09And then he threw me on the floor.
24:14He grabbed me by my neck.
24:15And he was, like, trying to, like, twist it hard, like, to break my neck.
24:20And when I looked up at him, it was, like, nobody was there.
24:26It felt like time was moving so slow.
24:29Like, I felt like...
24:32Sorry, I can't even put into words those feelings.
24:40I felt like that this was it for me.
24:44And I was gonna just be in this house dead.
24:45And nobody would know.
24:47And all I could hear is my daughter screaming and crying in the background.
24:51I just hear her crying and screaming and screaming.
24:54I believe her crying snapped him out of whatever evil that was happening in that moment.
25:02And all of a sudden, he let me go.
25:07If my daughter wasn't there, I do feel like he would have killed me.
25:13To this day, I felt like she saved my life.
25:26I received a phone call from a private number.
25:31And I picked up the phone.
25:34I recognized the voice, and it was Michael.
25:37And he just was like, I'm gonna kill you, bitch.
25:40When he said those words, I'll kill you, bitch, I believed him.
25:44He just tried to.
25:45There was no doubt or question that if he had another opportunity, he would have.
25:52And I hung up.
25:53After that, I called the police again to report that he called me and threatened me.
25:58But later on, the phone rang, and it popped up on the call ID Columbus Dispatch.
26:03I thought that they were calling to tell me that they captured Michael to just inform me.
26:08When I picked up the phone, the guy on the other end asked me what was my thoughts about Michael
26:16being warned for first-degree murder.
26:19He was so nonchalant that he probably thought I knew about it already.
26:24It's like my heart dropped in my stomach.
26:26I'm like, what?
26:30And he said, yeah, he strangled and killed a 19-year-old girl.
26:33It's a nationwide manhunt for him.
26:35I have to go.
26:36All I could think about is that he's crazy, and he's about to kill me next.
26:42And then that was when the real fear really set in, because I knew that he really wanted to kill
26:48me.
26:50So, yes, I felt like he was coming for me.
26:54That night, I prayed the hardest I ever prayed in my whole life.
27:16This is a picture of Stephanie.
27:22When this picture was flashing on the news, I felt like she resembled me a little bit.
27:30I kind of seen that innocent me in her.
27:38It's just, it's sad.
27:41It's so sad.
27:45And it just seemed unreal.
27:48Like, I couldn't believe that this was my life, and I was involved in something like this.
27:55And I hated that she had to meet this monster that took her away from her family.
28:05It's horrible.
28:09It's horrible.
28:25I definitely felt alone and by myself throughout that whole situation.
28:33Because it was kind of like this man is just, he can do what he want to do.
28:39There's no stopping him.
28:42When my uncle was, you know, walking around with knives to try to, you know, feel safe in their own
28:49home,
28:51I just hated to see that.
28:53I kind of felt like a burden a little bit, like I'm bringing all of this into their lives.
28:58Disturbing their lives in a way.
29:00But I also was scared about what he's capable of doing.
29:04And would he come back?
29:07I remember me crying and feeling like, I'm so young.
29:11Like, this is my life.
29:12Like, this is my life.
29:14You know, I'm supposed to hide the rest of my life.
29:18It just got to the point where it's just like, this is the time for me to choose me.
29:26And for me to choose me and feel safe and be able to live my life, he needs to be
29:33off these streets.
29:38And that's when I called the U.S. Marshal and I told him that I can help them find him.
29:44So, um, throughout our relationship, he was a mama's boy.
29:49And he would communicate to her everything.
29:54And I knew she knew where he was.
30:05I told her to tell Michael that I missed him and wanted to talk to him.
30:10And he called five minutes later.
30:13When he called, I asked him, I said, Michael, is this true?
30:20He didn't really say anything.
30:21I said, Michael, why would you do this?
30:26And then he said that I couldn't kill nobody that I love, so an innocent person died because of you.
30:39Something that today, it still bothers me.
30:46The only thing that really, really bothers me.
30:51And I only, I get really emotional at this part because when I hear myself saying this,
31:00I automatically think about her, right?
31:04Because I feel like he didn't know her.
31:08My logic mind knows it's not my fault.
31:11I know that.
31:12But also, the other part of me felt like he didn't know her.
31:18And I can't really even ever just say that part without having some emotion to it.
31:25I really detach from a lot of it.
31:27But that part always, always get me because I just think about her and just how innocent she was.
31:35She didn't even know that she was just probably in that danger that he's taking it out on her.
31:46And I know now that he's said that to really ruin my life, honestly.
31:57I feel like he knew his life was over and he wanted to ruin my life with it.
32:03And for a long time, it used to just really eat me up so, so bad, where I felt like
32:11that she died because of me.
32:28This is Stephanie Duchesne.
32:31She was found strangled in a vacant apartment on Morrill Avenue.
32:35Police have charged 26-year-old Michael Horton with Stephanie's murder.
32:39And there's a warrant out for him in Minnesota where he's charged with choking an ex-girlfriend.
32:44For the longest, I felt that guilt that it wasn't about her at all.
32:51It was because of me. Everything is about me.
32:55He basically strangled and choked me.
32:58And then a week later, he strangled and killed her.
33:02I felt like she resembled me a lot.
33:04And I felt a lot of guilt because I did feel like it was my fault that that happened to
33:09her.
33:11But it could have been anybody.
33:14So after that phone call, I think it was like 5 a.m. the next day that the U.S.
33:20Marshal called me and told me that they captured him in Pennsylvania, hiding in the closet.
33:27Once Michael was captured, it was such a relief.
33:31I can get back to my life again.
33:34I thought it would be over once he went to jail.
33:39But when he went to jail, they submitted his DNA.
33:42And that's when I found out that he had raped a woman.
33:47And then he had charges for robbery.
33:50And I was sitting there thinking, like, I did not know him at all.
33:55What we had before and that person I seen, that wasn't him.
33:59Michael is a monster to me.
34:02I don't see him being nothing else.
34:05That's exactly who he is to me.
34:22These are papers from the court transcript, from his sentencing.
34:27Okay.
34:28I never read it.
34:29I want to read it.
34:30Okay.
34:41This is what he stood up and Courtney said.
34:44Stephanie didn't do anything to me.
34:46I was stressed out by my baby's mother.
34:50And he said several times that day that he was with Stephanie.
34:55He called her my name.
35:00It's like he wanted her to be me so bad.
35:02He wanted to kill me so bad.
35:05He's trying to justify.
35:08And.
35:17I can't with this.
35:21It's ridiculous to me.
35:23And he said, like, I wouldn't kill nobody I love.
35:26And it's the person died because of you.
35:28It's just, like, reading stuff about him makes me feel like he really wanted it to be me.
35:34Reading through his statements is really point out the manipulator that he is and the liar that he is.
35:44And he would say anything to get out of any situation.
35:48There's no remorse at all from him.
35:53At all.
36:12So, this is a photo of me and my daughter after Michael have murdered Stephanie.
36:20And when I look at this picture, it's, you know, it's still happy, smiley person, you know?
36:34I'm going to stop because I.
36:37I don't know.
36:38Don't you clap, baby.
36:48I'm going to stop because I'm not an emotional person and to get all these emotions going is a lot
36:56for me because I've been through a lot in my life.
37:02And I have not let things tear me down.
37:05So, I don't deal with no emotions, really.
37:07I just hide them all.
37:10And when I looked at this, it was kind of just, like, the mask you always put on.
37:20It's emotional now and I get so embarrassed about the emotions a little bit because I feel so weak when
37:29I do it, you know what I mean?
37:31And I'm a strong person.
37:33But what triggered me is just, like, me thinking, like, girl, you are not happy.
37:39Ain't nothing happy going on in your life right now.
37:43I'm smiling in this picture, but it was just a mask.
37:48I wasn't happy.
37:51And I just think back to just all the times where I just masked my feelings.
37:59My daughter.
38:03To this day, I will always say she saved my life.
38:06I'm just really thankful.
38:10I do feel like people should follow their own things.
38:15And when you're so in love, you're just not seeing clearly.
38:22And they see in them doing hurtful and harmful things to other people.
38:26And they feel like he's not going to do it to me.
38:31Just pay attention to that because that person is actually showing you who they are.
38:39Today, our daughter knows everything about him.
38:43She feels like it's wrong.
38:46But my daughter talks to him today.
38:53And she feels like it's wrong and horrible because then was her words.
38:57But I think also a part of her, like any kid, just see their parents as just being mommy and
39:03daddy.
39:04She has shared some conversations that they have had where he wanted her to come see him.
39:11It scares me because I know the manipulator he is.
39:17So just them conversating scares me because I don't know what he's filling her mind with, making her believe.
39:25I just don't know.
39:26And that's the scary part because I want to protect her.
39:34What would you say to Michael if you had the chance?
39:38I would tell Michael.
39:44I bet he took away so many just years of my life.
39:47Even after the situation, all the pain and all the suffering I went through, I would tell him that he's
39:58a coward and I would never look at him as a man.
40:02I would tell him he got what he deserved.
40:07And I know how bad he wanted to break me down with this situation.
40:12And, you know, I just, I'm just a fighter.
40:14I've been fighting all my life.
40:18And I just won't allow this to tear me down.
40:20He wanted me to suffer like him.
40:26But at the end, he didn't win, though.
40:37My life is good.
40:39I have three kids.
40:40I'm married.
40:41I'm happy.
40:42I felt like after me going through this storm, God sent me the perfect man.
40:50He helped raise my daughter.
40:53And he has been there as her father.
40:57My daughter's 18.
40:58She's in college.
40:59And things are going really well for me.
41:02I don't look like what I've been through.
41:04And I feel strong.
41:06And I feel like I've got a lot of power today.
41:09So life has been good.
41:19Every abuse that an adult can put on a child, I dealt with from him.
41:25Him alone.
41:29He's 100% a monster and a predator and a killer.
41:34He's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster,
41:35he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100% a monster, he's 100%
Comments