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