If you’re not already familiar with The Toybox Killer case, you’re about to be….and head’s up that it’s from the deepest, darkest, stankest part of history’s colon. You may need a fresh baptism afterwards just from listening.
If you’ve ever wondered why there’s such a loud movement to shut down social media accounts teaching misogyny, and backlash to violent pornography, this story is a great example. It’s also further argument AGAINST smacking kids around, and/or letting them be exposed to violent and emotionally unfit parents, because while the Toybox Killer may have been born with a screw loose, his upbringing only made things worse.
It all goes down in a bleak and dusty stretch of desert just outside Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
[00:00:00] Hello all you spooky nerds. Long time no speak. Kimberly and I have been deep in the blown out anals of human history, working on our grand finale of Season 2, which is going to debut next week. But the subject of our final episode is a heavy one.
[00:00:21] We're going to be discussing serial killers with two of the stars from Netflix's critically acclaimed series, Mindhunter. So we're dropping this very special bonus story to get you primed for next week and encourage you to join us as well as to simply say thank you
[00:00:41] for being with us and sticking with us through this entire last season. Now the story we're sharing today originally debuted last November on our paid subscriber Patreon where you can find dozens more stories just like this that have never been shared to our main feed.
[00:01:01] That all being said, buckle up because this one's a doozy. It's the story of a sick fck that the media nicknamed the Toy Box Killer. If you are struggling with any symptoms of post-traumatic stress in relationship to sexual assault, this might be one you want to skip.
[00:01:21] We will see you guys next week for the grand finale. Cynthia could barely see straight. Her vision was bleary as if she were looking through glass that had been smeared with Vaseline. Rolling her head to one side, the weight of an old iron collar
[00:01:48] buckled to her neck first became apparent. The jangle of chains were audible as she struggled to raise her arms. No matter, she wouldn't get very far in her condition but for good measure she'd been manacled to a cold steel table. Cynthia felt unnaturally fatigued, clinging to consciousness.
[00:02:12] The pungent odor of her surroundings was exacerbated by the New Mexico sun cutting through draped windows, baking moldy carpets inside of the run-down trailer that held her captive. Wherever she was, a foreboding sense of decay pressed against each of her failing senses.
[00:02:35] She could see blurred shadows moving around her, hushed voices of garbled noise. Before she could gain the strength to whisper through dried and cracked lips she heard a tape recorder come alive followed by the whir of spindles delivering a haunting set of instructions. Hello there, bitch.
[00:02:58] Are you comfortable right now? I doubt it. Wrists and ankles chained, gagged, probably blindfolded. You are disoriented and scared too, I would imagine. Perfectly normal under the circumstances. For a little while at least. You need to get your shit together and listen to this tape.
[00:03:20] It is very relevant to your situation. I'm going to tell you in detail why you have been kidnapped, what's going to happen to you, and how long you'll be here. I don't know the details of your capture because this tape is being created July 23rd, 1993
[00:03:43] as a general advisory tape for all future female captives. The information I'm going to give you is based on my experience dealing with captives over a period of several years. For Cynthia Vigil, the nightmare began on March 20th, 1999.
[00:04:03] At 22 years of age, she was living in a friend's roadside motel on the run from an unraveling relationship. She gained a small sense of safety while staying there, but this comfort would be short-lived. Cynthia would soon discover that someone, for some time, had been watching her.
[00:04:26] On the morning of the 20th, Cynthia was approached by her friend DJ. He communicated that an unknown man had been asking about her and was now waiting across the street in an RV. Now, some reports state that Cynthia was living as a sex worker at the time,
[00:04:44] which may explain why she decided to engage with the stranger. She crossed the street, climbed into the RV, and watched as she said the man handed DJ a wad of cash out the driver's side window. Major Red Flag. Her new and troubling acquaintance was a 60-year-old creepshow
[00:05:06] with a full head of slicked brown hair. He was a wiry bitch and had the type of bushy mustache that folks were definitely no longer wearing near the turn of the millennium. Not exactly the most imposing character, but his face was deeply creased,
[00:05:25] pocked with acne scars, and reflected the weight of a poisoned soul. Imagine a cross between an earth science teacher that just can't keep his shit together, the guy on the Pringles can, and a transient that hangs outside of the Shell station drinking from a brown paper bag.
[00:05:44] After a short conversation, things went dark as the stranger pulled out a pair of handcuffs and quickly snapped one to Cynthia's wrist. Expectedly, she panicked and tried to escape the RV. That's when another figure stepped out from behind the shower curtain inside the RV
[00:06:05] and forked a lightning into Cynthia's body with a cattle prod. Brought to her knees, Cynthia was then handcuffed to a cabinet inside the vehicle and her abduction began. As they drove, eventually at gunpoint, she was stripped naked and duct taped into submission.
[00:06:25] The RV rolled on for hours before eventually stopping in Elephant Butte, approximately 7 miles north of a town cryptically named Truth or Consequences. Cynthia was taken from the RV in broad daylight, still naked and being held at gunpoint.
[00:06:45] She could now see that she was surrounded by trailers from all sides, desperately hoping that someone would notice her. She would later discover why this hope was futile. You see, there are many knights in shining armor coming to rescue you.
[00:07:18] You are strictly on your own and under the circumstances, I bet that is a scary thought. If there is another girl in the room, she won't be able to help you either because she's going to be in the same position that you're in.
[00:07:33] As for escaping, I'm sure you'll try to figure out a way, that's human nature, but it's not hardly even worth talking about here. Consequently, you are going to be kept in an environment that is even more secure than a prison cell.
[00:07:48] The hidden playroom where you're going to be kept has steel walls, floor and ceiling. It is virtually soundproof and has a sealed door with two keyed locks. The hinges are welded on and there are two heavy deadbolts on the outside. The room is totally escape-proof, even with tools.
[00:08:07] Anytime that you are left unattended in the room, your wrists will be chained and there are electronic sensors to, uh, let us know if you move around too much. And if that's not enough, there is a closed circuit TV system with a surveillance camera.
[00:08:23] It's wired to the main TV in the living room so we can check on you once in a while or just sit and watch you for the fun of it. If everybody knew how much fun it was to keep a sex slave,
[00:08:35] half the women would be chained up in somebody's basement. Anyway, we have a lot of practice at this and, uh, we're not real concerned about you escaping. You're fucking sure not gonna go anywhere.
[00:08:47] Also, we have a couple of real close friends that we party with once in a while. They know about our hangups and don't have any problem with fucking a slave. You may be required to service them occasionally, but that's an easy one for the most part.
[00:09:02] Just fuck it and suck it. They don't get into the heavier stuff. Cynthia was then brought inside a nearby trailer and that's when she was ultimately chained to a table. Now, after hearing the psychotic recording, it was clear that her captor had done this sick shit before.
[00:09:21] According to Cynthia, quote, The way he talked, I didn't feel like this was his first time, she recalled. It was like he knew what he was doing. He told me I was never going to see my family again. He told me he would kill me like the others.
[00:09:41] Though terrified by her new surroundings, Cynthia dreaded even more being brought into the playroom or toy box that was referenced on the tape. Now for you listeners, as confusing as this might be, the toy box was in an additional trailer next to the main trailer.
[00:10:00] So for those of you keeping track, we have a busted ass RV, one creepy trailer and an even creepier trailer surrounded by trailers of all the creepy neighbors. Fuck. And for the next three days, Cynthia Vigil would be tortured and raped in excruciating fashion.
[00:10:23] On the third day, fuck-faced Mr. Pringle went to work, leaving Cynthia under the watchful eye of his accomplice, the bitch who was hiding in the shower, who was also eventually revealed to be his girlfriend. Shower hoe wasn't as meticulous as her shittier half
[00:10:41] and placed the keys to Cynthia's restraints on a nearby table. She then left the room to take a phone call, and that's when Cynthia used her feet to quietly inch the table closer until she could reach the keys. With the keys now in hand,
[00:11:02] Cynthia quickly freed herself before grabbing an ice pick and jamming that fucker into the neck of her female captor. She escaped the trailer and wisely bypassed knocking on any of the neighbors' doors. She ran down muddy roads, wearing only a slave collar,
[00:11:21] until reaching another nearby mobile home and pleading for assistance. She's got a chain on her and everything. She's telling one right away, this lady's naked and everything else. She said they've been holding her for three days. Once the police arrived, Cynthia was finally safe,
[00:11:46] and soon thereafter, authorities would arrest her captors. Their names? David Parker Ray and Cindy Hendy. During his childhood, David Parker Ray and his younger sister Peggy lived with their disciplinarian grandfather. He was also sporadically visited by his violent, alcoholic father
[00:12:09] who would supply him with magazines depicting sadomasochistic pornography. At Mountaineer High School in Mountaineer, New Mexico, he was often bullied by his peers for his shyness around girls. Ray's sexual fantasies of raping, torturing, and even murdering women developed during his teenage years.
[00:12:30] Around this time, his sister discovered his sadomasochistic drawings, as well as pornographic photographs of bondage acts. During the later investigation, police eventually entered Ray's now infamous toybox, and there they discovered the rash of horrors that had awaited Cindy during her time in captivity.
[00:12:55] Torture devices, a gynecological table, surgical instruments, sex toys, electric shock, and more. There was a wooden contraption used to bend over and immobilize victims while he and his friends would rape them. He would even sometimes involve his dog.
[00:13:13] Here, it was revealed that Ray likely murdered a number of his victims. On the walls were detailed diagrams showing different methods and techniques for inflicting pain. Ray would often use drugs that would induce memory loss, like sodium pentothal and phenobarbital.
[00:13:31] In Ray's trailer, the police also discovered a videotape from 1996 showing a terrified woman being raped and tortured by Ray and his girlfriend. Once this was made public, numerous victims came forward to tell their story. Ray was branded by the media as the Toybox Killer.
[00:13:53] With multiple victims now testifying, the police were able to press Hendy, who quickly folded and began spilling her guts on what she knew of Ray's murders. Her testimony led the police to discover that Ray had been helped in the abductions and murders by his daughter, Glenda Ray,
[00:14:14] and friend, Dennis Roy Yancy. Ray is believed to be responsible for as many as 50 deaths. However, there wasn't enough evidence to prove this beyond diary entries, which detailed the killings in gruesome fashion. The sites Yancy identified as containing victim remains ultimately yielded nothing.
[00:14:38] Ray was never charged with murder. Regardless, the justice system prevented him from ever hurting anyone again. Ray was sentenced in 2001 to 224 years in prison for multiple offenses, including the abduction and sexual torture of three women. His girlfriend and accomplice, Cindy Hendy,
[00:15:02] pleaded guilty in 1999 to kidnapping and torturing women. In return, she was sentenced to 36 years, but became eligible for parole after spending half of that time in prison. She was released in 2019. Cynthia is still living in New Mexico, a survivor, now with three sons.
[00:15:25] She's currently studying to take the LSAT and hopes of entering law school someday. In the meantime, the last victim of the Toy Box Killer ironically started a toy business with her sons, selling LED glow toys at state fairs. Well, I believe I've told you everything that I can.
[00:15:47] I cannot predict the future, and I can only give you advice. Be smart and be a survivor. Don't ever scream, don't talk without permission. Be very quiet, be docile and obedient, and by all means, show proper respect.