David Parker Ray (November 6, 1939 – May 28,
2002) was a suspected American serial killer and known torturer of
women; though no bodies were found, he was accused by his accomplices
of killing several people, and suspected by police to have murdered as
many as 60 people in the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. He
is occasionally known as the "Toy-Box Killer".
Childhood
Ray’s childhood was the start of what many believe
turned him into a murderer. Ray lived with his grandfather. He still
saw his father, but his father physically abused him. Parker also was
bullied by his peers for his shyness around girls. As a teenager, he
started abusing alcohol and drugs. Ray’s rough start continued to
progress into adulthood and eventually lead to the victimization of
young women.
Crimes
David Parker Ray tortured and presumably killed his
victims in a $100,000 homemade torture chamber he called his "toy
box", which was equipped with what he referred to as his "friends":
whips, chains, pulleys, straps, clamps, leg spreader bars, and
surgical blades and saws. With these tools it is thought that he
terrorized Truth or Consequences for several years with the added
assistance of multiple accomplices.
Inside the torture room, along with numerous sex
toys, torture implements, syringes and detailed diagrams (made by Ray
himself) showing different methods and techniques for inflicting pain,
there was a homemade electricity generating device that was used in
torture. Ray would often have a recorded audio tape of himself played
for his victims whenever they regained consciousness.
Trial and conviction
On March 22, 1999, a living victim, Cynthia Vigil,
escaped after being kidnapped and enduring torture in a three-day
ordeal. To escape, Vigil waited until Ray went to work and then
managed to get the keys to the lock of her chains which Ray's
accomplice, Cindy Hendy, left on a table nearby while she was in
another room on the phone. After getting the keys, Hendy noticed
Vigil's attempt at escaping and fighting ensued. During the struggle,
Hendy broke a lamp on Vigil's head, but she still managed to unlock
her chains and then proceeded to stab Hendy in the neck with an
icepick she found on the floor and escaped. Vigil ran away naked,
wearing only an iron slave collar and padlocked chains. After Vigil's
escape and rescue, Ray and Hendy were apprehended by the police.
Parker was arrested the day his last victim escaped.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution brought forward two victims
along with the mother of a deceased victim. Cynthia Vigil and Kelly
Garret testified against Ray, describing the horrible tortures they
endured. Garret was one who said she did not want him to receive the
death penalty because she thought that was too easy. She wanted him to
endure the pain she went through. She wanted him to stay in prison for
his entire life.
Ray was sentenced to 224 years in prison after
being convicted of numerous offenses involving the abduction and
sexual torture of three young women at his Elephant Butte Lake home.
His first trial ended in a hung jury in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico.
His trial was then relocated to a small town where he had been raised
decades before. He was convicted of his crimes against Angie Montaño,
and then admitted his crimes against Cynthia Vigil Jaramillo and
another young woman, as part of a plea deal for a light sentence for
Ray's daughter. He died eight months after sentencing, having been
held for two and a half years while awaiting trial and re-trial. Hendy,
who testified against Ray, received a sentence of 36 years for her
role in the crimes.
David Parker Ray
David Parker Ray was sentenced to 224 years in
prison at a hearing in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico - having been
convicted of numerous offenses involving the abduction and
sexual torture of three young women at his
Elephant Butte Lake home. Ray was earlier
convicted for his crimes against Kelly Van Cleave, formerly of Truth
or Consequences, in July 1996. He later pled guilty to charges
involving two other victims, the late Angie Montano of T or C and
Cynthia
Vigil of Albuquerque, in 1999.
Mary Ellen O’Toole, Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent in Virginia and the FBI’s foremost expert in the
field of investigating criminal sexual sadism,
testified that examination of Ray’s home, the trailer he had converted
into his infamous “toy box” and the sexual paraphernalia and drawings
found there suggest that Ray is a “criminal sexual sadist.”
She said Ray’s toy box and custom
equipment were extremely impressive in terms
of sexual sadism, their potential lethality and the time, money and
effort it took to keep them a secret. O’Toole said there is no known
therapy for Ray’s paraphilia (psycho-sexual disorder) and that its
corresponding behavior can be stopped only by apprehension.
Ray’s victims made their statements to the court
and to Ray before the judge pronounced sentence. Kelly (Van Cleave)
Garrett who earlier was crying and holding hands with Cynthia Vigil in
the courtroom, said she wants Ray to live a for long time and suffer
in prison. She said the sick pervert will find no friends in prison
and she hopes he will be controlled and used in the same manner that
she and Ray’s other victims had. Garrett said however she is not a
victim but a survivor. Loretta Romero, Angie Montano’s
mother, said her daughter had a good heart
but had lost all respect, lost her smile, lost everything because of
David Ray. Mrs. Romero said she is here for Angie and her two little
boys whose lives Ray had ruined. Mrs. Romero said she feels sorry for
David Ray, that she forgives him and that her (now deceased) daughter
would forgive him. But Angie’s mother said she never will forget. Less
forgiving was Cynthia Vigil’s grandmother, Bertha Vigil. Mrs. Vigil
told Ray he is a poor excuse for a human being and asked him how he
would like it if she did to his daughter what he had done to Cynthia.
Bertha Vigil said her granddaughter has nightmares
every night and that Ray had ruined not only her life but her whole
family’s. Cynthia’s grandmother said she prays Ray will suffer every
day for the
rest of his life. “Satan has a place for you.
I hope you burn in hell forever,” Mrs. Vigil said.
“I bare scars outside and inside that will never
heal,” Cynthia Vigil said. She said no punishment is equal to the
agony she has suffered. Vigil said she is afraid of being tied down
and helpless, afraid of the dark and of going out alone. Cynthia Vigil,
crying, said she hopes David Ray will spend the rest of his life
inside four walls and suffer the way he made her suffer.
Ray, who seemed to be in good spirits during his
sentencing hearing and unmoved while his victims cried, said he is
having a hard time expressing himself. Despite his
handicap as a public speaker, Ray told the
court that no one but his attorney had heard his side. Ray said many
lies and distortions have been told in his case.
Ray said he had entered into a plea agreement to
get his daughter released. Ray’s daughter, Glenda Jean “Jessy” Ray,
was Ray’s accomplice in the abduction and sexual torture of Kelly Van
Cleave.
Ray said he had lost everything following his
arrest including his home, all other material assets and his health.
Ray said the two and a half years in confinement
since his arrest has allowed him to reflect, read his Bible and “get
right with God.” Ray said he has put his life in His hands and that he
can’t change the past but can only be sorry.
David Parker Ray died 8 months after sentencing -
having served a total of only 3 years.
