One of New Mexico's most shocking crimes profiled in Very Local's Hometown Tragedy
Two women held as sex slaves in Cleveland shared their story on "20/20" Tuesday. A similar case in New Mexico, in which David Parker Ray chained and tortured women in his Toy Box, may not be over.
Two women held as sex slaves in Cleveland shared their story on "20/20" Tuesday. A similar case in New Mexico, in which David Parker Ray chained and tortured women in his Toy Box, may not be over.
Two women held as sex slaves in Cleveland shared their story on "20/20" Tuesday. A similar case in New Mexico, in which David Parker Ray chained and tortured women in his Toy Box, may not be over.
Warning: Video above may contain subject matter that could be disturbing to some. Viewer discretion is advised.
In the 1990's, David Parker Ray chained and tortured women in his Toy Box.
Dozens of police officers searched a trailer just off Elephant Butte Lake in 1999. Parker Ray lived there, a man no one suspected of doing anything illegal because he worked as a maintenance man for New Mexico State Parks.
But his dark secrets became public when one of the women he kept as a sex slave at his home for three days managed to escape. She was discovered running down a road wearing only a collar.
When police searched Parker Ray’s home, they found a trailer next to it, a torture chamber he called his Toy Box. It was filled with handcuffs, chains, sex toys, knives, surgical items and a gynecological gurney.
Download the Very Local app to watch Hometown Tragedy: The Toy Box Killer
In April 2001, a jury convicted him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman. That July, he accepted a plea deal for kidnapping and sexually assaulting two others.
“I guess you could call it an addiction,” he told Action 7 News at the time.
Investigators said Parker Ray bragged there were more victims, a lot more, from Arizona to New Mexico. He also claimed there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.
“I like the lifestyle,” he said. “I like … bondage and discipline and there’s a couple of million people in the U.S. who like the same thing, according to the statistics that I’ve read. And, um, I was just more flamboyant with it than most people are. Most people keep it in the closet."
Part of his plea deal was to tell his secrets to law enforcement.
That August, they met with him, but he refused to work with police. In 2002, he died in prison of a heart attack months into serving a 223-year conviction.
Now, Very Local takes a deep dive into events that surrounded the case in the latest episode of Hometown Tragedy.
Hometown Tragedy investigates true crime stories that rocked communities in New Mexico and across America.
Download the Very Local app to stream “Hometown Tragedy: The Toy Box Killer” for free. Then dive into entire seasons of “Finding Adventure with Kinga Philipps”, “Eat Play Stay”, “Hometown Tragedy” and much more.
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