This episode discusses one of the most sadistic and cruel killers in American History. David Parker Ray, commonly known by his nickname of the Toy Box Killer, was a suspected serial killer, rapist, and torturer of women. His crimes are believed to have spanned several decades. David Parker Ray earned his notorious nickname because of the personal torture house he built, a customized truck trailer that was filled with dozens of weapons and tools used to inflict harm. This sound proof trailer, the place where he would imprison women for days and weeks at a time, was referred to by David Parker Ray as his “Toy Box.”
This episode goes over the history of David Parker Ray and details of his crimes, as well as the events and investigation that would eventually bring about his downfall.
This episode of Strange Matters covers the unique case of a missing Polish woman named Katarzyna Zowada. Katarzyna was a young college student who would suddenly go missing without a trace or clue in 1998. For years her disappearance puzzled law enforcement, until a gruesome discovery was made that transformed this story from a simple disappearance, into one of the strangest and most disturbing crime cases of the country. For decades, the fate of Katarzyna Zowada has remained perhaps the biggest criminal mystery in Poland’s history. In this episode the dark tale of Katarzyna’s mystery is discussed, as well as the mystifying aftermath and the current fairs of the ongoing investigation.
In this episode of Strange Matters the bizarre and unusual topic of crimes involving sleepwalking murders is discussed. Though hard to imagine, in rare instances of homicide crimes an individual is actually capable of brutal and violent murder, all the while remaining asleep. Though many have tried and failed to use the “sleepwalking defense” through the years, for a select few cases the actions of the killer, and the science behind the condition, do show that a person is perfectly capable of murdering others while sleepwalking.
The idea that people were capable of killing in their sleep has been around for hundreds of years, but very rarely has it been successful in defending the accused. Many have tried to claim they were in a parasomnia state at the time they committed murder, but due to the scientific and behavioral studies of the modern world it is known their actions could not have been done while sleepwalking. However, there are a small number of cases where the most likely and agreed upon theory is that the murderer was actually asleep during the entirety of their crime.
