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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter Friday, January thirtieth,
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twenty twenty six. Taking a break from the courtrooms today
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instead tabloid crimes that sound too insane to be real,
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but they are. A Spandau ballet singer convicted of rape.
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Ross Davidson, who performed under the stage name Ross Wilde,
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replaced Tony Hadley as frontman of the nineteen eighties hit
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Makers in twenty eighteen. Prosecutor called him a bit of
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a sex symbol who expected sex on demand, met women
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on Tinder, attacked them while they slept. One victim woke
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up to find him raping her. Another woke up in
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Thailand to find him attempting rape without a condom. Guilty
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on all charges, sentencing next month. A double killer who
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once tried to escape prison in a coffin is making
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his first public appearance in thirty years. Gordon Woody Mower
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slaughtered his parents with a point two two rifle in
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nineteen ninety six, fled with his fourteen year old girlfriend,
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got caught after appearing on America's Most Wanted. Now he's
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claiming his lawyers bribed him ten thousand dollars to plead
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guilty once his sentence vacated. Security so tight they're driving
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him two hundred and sixty miles round trip each day
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rather than let him stay overnight anywhere. And Nicholas Rossy,
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the world's most dangerous con man accused of raping multiple
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women in Utah, faked his own death, published an obituary,
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fled to Scotland, got caught in a Glasgow hospital when
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staff recognized his tattoos from an Interpol notice. Claimed he
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was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, now serving at
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least five years. New documentary drops today on Prime Video.
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I'm Red Carter Today. Predators, escape artists and the con
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man who thought he could fake his way out of everything.
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This is Celebrity Trials. Ross Davidson thirty seven years old,
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Aberdeen born, musical theater actor, aspiring songwriter, singer, stage name
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Ross Wilde. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Davidson
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replaced Tony Hadley as the frontman of Spandau Ballet in
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twenty eighteen. The nineteen eighties new wave band True Gold
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Only when You Leave Classic Hits. Hadley was the voice
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during their heyday Davidson stepped in to fill those shoes.
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He lasted eleven months. Now he's facing prison for rape,
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attempted rape, sexual assault, voyeurism. Wednesday, a jury at Woodgreen
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Crown Court in London found Davidson guilty on all charges
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after more than eleven hours of deliberation. Two victims, one
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raped in London in March twenty fifteen, another sexually assaulted
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and nearly raped in Thailand in December twenty nineteen. Prosecutor
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Richard herndonted a devastating picture called Davidson a bit of
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a sex symbol, very good looking, physically fit, sings plays guitar,
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charming and charismatic. Had starred in the Queen based West
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End musical We Will Rock You before joining Spandau Ballet.
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His darker side is not the first thing that many
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women and girls notice about him, Herndon told the jury.
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But the women in this case can all attest to
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that sinister part of his personality. Here's the prosecution's theory.
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Davidson believed his looks and star quality entitled him to
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whatever he wanted. When women didn't give him what he
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thought he deserved, he took it anyway. It is because
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ross Davidson expects to get sex on demand, that he
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will resort to rape and sexual assault if he is
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not given what he thinks he deserves. Herndon said Davidson
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met his victims on dating apps Tinder, plenty of Fish,
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the modern hunting ground for predators who hide behind profile
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pictures and charm. The first victim met David's in February
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twenty twelve on plenty of Fish. By March twenty fifteen,
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she went to stay with him at his home in Finchley,
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North London. That's when he attacked her. She told the jury.
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Davidson made her wear an S and M sex collar
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with wrist restraints, put her in them for about twenty
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minutes without her permission. She was confused and in a
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state of shock. He removed them when she asked, but
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that wasn't the worst of it. Davidson attacked her while
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she was asleep in his bed. She recalled feeling helpless
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and scared to react. Before the assault, Davidson had mentioned
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something disturbing. He told her he liked the idea of
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having sex with a mannekin, a person in a helpless state,
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someone not moving. That's not a kink. That's a confession.
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He's describing raping unconscious women, and then he did it.
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In court, Davidson called all these claims an out and
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out lie, said all the sex was consensual, described himself
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as sex positive, open dialogue, open mindedness about people's predilections,
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trying different sexual appetites, bondage restraint, group sex, sex parties.
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The jury didn't buy it. The second victim met Davidson
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and began what she thought was a whirlwind romance in
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Thailand in December twenty nineteen. They had drunken consensual sex
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one night, then she went to sleep. She woke up
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to find Davidson on top of her, trying to have
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sex without her permission, without a condom. When she calmly
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talked him down from raping her, Davidson's response was chilling.
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Thanks for being cool about it. Thanks for being cool
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about it, like she'd let him borrow her car, like
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she'd picked up the check at dinner, not like she
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just stopped him from raping her. The woman stayed with
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him that night described it as regrettable but fair. They
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spent time together the following day on a beach and sites,
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seeing she was processing in shock. Didn't fully understand what
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had happened to her, but there was evidence she didn't
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know about. Davidson had secretly filmed her while she slept,
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video on his mobile phone showing her being fondled while
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snoring asleep, still unresponsive, at least half naked in the
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Thailand hotel bedroom. She had no idea the video existed
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until police told her in twenty twenty three. Detectives tracked
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her down after finding the video on Davidson's phone. She
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strongly dismissed Davidson's claim that she'd given him permission to
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touch her while she was asleep. Why would I want
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a man to touch me when I am in a
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state of unconsciousness, she asked the jury. Davidson admitted to
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the voyeurism charge, said he created the video for selfish
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reasons for sexual gratification, claimed he had permission to touch her,
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but not to film. Then, getting emotional, he told the jury,
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I wish I had never done it. That's the only
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thing he admitted. Everything else he claimed was consensual lies misunderstanding.
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The jury disagreed guilty on all charges. This wasn't Davidson's
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first trial. In July twenty twenty four, he was convicted
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by a different jury of raping another woman and sexually
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assaulting two more four victims total from that trial, now
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two more from this retrial. Six women at least six
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that we know of, multiple victims across years, same pattern,
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dating apps, charm attacks while they slept. Detective Constable Camilla Catedrova,
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part of the investigation team, said after the verdict, Davidson
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is a prolific offender who carried out cowardly and opportunistic
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assaults against his victims. Cowardly, opportunistic, that's exactly right. He
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attacked women while they slept, when they couldn't fight back,
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when they couldn't say no, because unconscious women can't refuse.
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The prosecute nailed it in his opening. People assume men
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like Davidson don't need to rape. Blessed with good looks
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and star quality can get any woman he wants. Why
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force himself on anyone? Yet the reality belies that supposition,
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Herndon said. In this case, many young women have come
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forward to tell the police that they have been victims
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of mister Davidson's predatory behavior. Looks don't prevent predation, Charm
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doesn't eliminate entitlement. Some men believe they deserve whatever they want,
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and when they don't get it, they take it. Davidson
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wasn't in court to hear the verdicts Wednesday, suffering from
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a viral infection. Remains in prison. Sentencing hearing scheduled for
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February fourth. His career is over. Spandau Ballet, We Will
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Rock You, West End Musicals all finished. Now He's just
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another rapist waiting for his sentence. Ross Davidson was thirty
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seven years old. Singer actor sexim thought his charm entitled
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him to sex on demand. Thought women's unconscious bodies were
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his to use. Thought he could film his assaults and
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get away with it. The jury saw through all of it. Guilty.
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We'll be right back with a double killer who once
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tried to escape prison in a coffin, now making his
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first public appearance in thirty years, and the world's most
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dangerous con man who faked his death to flee rape charges.
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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed. Carter March nineteen
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ninety six, Upstate New York, isolated farm in Otsego County,
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Gordon Woody Mower eighteen years old, took a point two
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two rifle and shot his father, Gordon Senior, fifty two
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and his mother, Susan fifty Then he fled with his
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fourteen year old girlfriend, Melanie Bray. Three weeks later, mo
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was featured on America's Most Wanted Moments. After the broadcast,
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police spotted him in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. While handcuffed,
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Mower smashed one of the cops holding him to the
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ground and took off running. Recaptured quickly, but even then
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he was establishing his reputation escape artist. Mower accepted a
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guilty plea to avoid the death penalty, sentenced to life
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without parole in October nineteen ninety six. His legal team
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convinced him his sentence would be reduced when New York's
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capital punishment law was declared unconstitutional. That didn't happen. He's
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been in prison ever since nearly thirty years, but Woody
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Mower hasn't stopped trying to get out. His most audacious
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escape attempt came in twenty fifteen at Auburn, a maximum
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security New York prison. Mower managed to build a coffin
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like box in the prison workshop. His plan hide inside
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the box which would end up buried under tons of
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sawdust regularly hauled away in a local farmer's trailer. He
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and another prisoner practiced the plan roughly fifty times before
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an inmate tipped off authorities. Three weeks before the plot
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was discovered, a guard saw Moer walking around with sawdust
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on him. Nobody connected the dots until the tip came in.
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Mower got five hundred sixty four days in solitary confinement,
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and he bragged to local media about how close he'd come.
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Smart enough to build a coffin and practice fifty escapes,
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too stupid to brush off the sawdust. Now Mower is
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attempting another way out, a legal one. Wednesday, the forty
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eight year old murderer made his first public appearance in
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thirty years at Otsego County Court in Cooperstown. Claims his
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attorneys mishandled his case that his rights were violated that
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his sentence should be vacated. The specific allegation his state
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appointed lawyers urged him to accept ten thousand dollars from
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his parents' estates in exchange for pleading guilty, told him
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to keep quiet about it when he was sentenced. In
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other words, He's claim he was bribed to confess to
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murdering his own parents. True crime author Susan Ashlin has
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been researching Moer for years. Her book Ungrateful Bastard, The
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Shocking Journey of a killer and escape Artist, comes out
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February fifth. She met Moer face to face at maximum
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security schawan Gunk Correctional Facility. Meeting him was absolutely terrifying,
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Ashlin told The Daily Mail. This man came out and
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he was big. He didn't look angry, but he just
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looked miserable, like I'd pulled him out of the lunch
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line or something, and that he was hungry. I was terrified.
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She described sitting alone at a table in what looked
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like a school cafeteria, five foot two, very petite, and
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then this hulking killer walked in. No restraints. Guards didn't
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stay in the room, just unlocked the door, let him
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in and locked it behind him. I thought, if this
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guy jumped the table and strangled me, they wouldn't even
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make it in time. Ashlin said her fear wasn't unfounded.
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In their initial letters and phone calls, Mower kept saying
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he was going to lure his former defense attorney to
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a visit, jumped the visiting room table and beat him
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to death on the floor. So Ashlin confronted the tension
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directly asked Moer, are you mad that I'm here? No?
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Do I look mad? He said, yes, you do. Then
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she told him she'd come up with a title for
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the book, Ungrateful Bastard Dead silence, no reaction. Ashlin started sweating. Finally,
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Mower said, that's the nickname my mother gave me. More silence,
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Ashlin sweating bullets. Then he threw his head back, laughed
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and said, that's a really great title. The nickname his
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mother gave him ungrateful Bastard, and then he killed her.
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Security for Wednesday's hearing was intense. Authorities are so anxious
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about Mower that they're driving him two hundred and sixty
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miles round trip each day from prison to court and back.
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Won't let him stay overnight anywhere too risky. There's no
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question security will be heavy, Ashlein said. They won't even
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allow him to stay overnight anywhere because they can't take
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that risk, and I'm expecting him to be heavily heavily
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restrained in the courtroom. The night of the murders, Moer
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had planned to run away with his fourteen year old girlfriend.
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He packed a suitcase, put it in his jeep, went
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to see the movie Broken Arrow, starring John Travolta, but
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when he came out of the theater, his parents were
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by his car, screaming at him. His father hid him
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in the face, told him he couldn't leave. Back at
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the farmhouse, his mother continued yelling. That's when Moher grabbed
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his point two two rifle from his bedroom. I know
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I was out of my mind when this happened, he
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said in his statement to the court. I went into
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the bedroom and shot my father. Then I came back
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out and shot my mother. A horrified nephew discovered the
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bodies the next morning when he arrived at seven a m.
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To help milk the cows. Dennis Vaco, state Attorney General
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at the time, said Woody Mower is a remorseless killer
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who brutally murdered the two people who loved him most.
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Now Mower wants out, claims he was bribed, claims his
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lawyers violated his rights. High profile defense attorney Melissa Swartz
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is representing him. She recently overturned the manslaughter conviction of
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Caitlin Conley, who was convicted of fatally poisoning her ex
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boyfriend's mother. Here's a guy who has spent his whole
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prison life trying to escape, Ashlin said, now he stands
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a solid chance of actually getting out. Period. Gordon Woody Mower,