“Yeah, sure. I was, um, out for a walk in the snow. I’m one of the few people who grew up here who loves the snow. I can’t get enough of it. Although… It’ll never look the same to me again after this.” She swiped at a tear as if it made her angry. “I was distracted, had my face turned up to the snow, breathing in the cold air and just enjoying it so much. He got me from behind and had me deep into the trees in a matter of seconds. I hit the ground hard, facedown.” She rubbed at a spot on her cheek where a faint bruise remained from the attack two weeks ago. “Everything I’d learned about self-defense was worthless. He had me completely immobilized in a matter of seconds.”

Sam reached over to open the bottle of water. “Take a sip.”

Kaitlyn drank from the bottle and used the tissue Jeannie handed her to wipe her eyes. “Sorry.”

“Please don’t be,” Jeannie said. “I still cry every time I think about it happening to me.”

Kaitlyn seemed startled to hear that.

“And trust me, I know how to defend myself, too.”

The young woman drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “That’s the part I wrestle with. I knew what to do, but when it was happening, I was just frozen with fear.”

“Anyone would be,” Sam said.

“It’s just… It’s hard to talk about it.”

“We understand, and we’re so sorry to put you through it—again,” Jeannie said. “But since he’s since committed two homicides, the case is now ours. We just want to be sure we have every detail we need.”

“I can’t stop thinking about the girls he killed,” Kaitlyn said softly as she wiped away tears. “That could’ve been me.”

“Take all the time you need,” Sam said, forcing herself to be patient with the traumatized young woman.

“He covered my mouth with one hand and pulled my pants off with the other. He tore my underwear and jammed the fabric in my mouth. I started to hyperventilate because I couldn’t breathe.” She took another deep breath. “He raped me while keeping his hand over my face the whole time. I remember being so cold and not being able to breathe. And that it hurt—a lot. I thought it would never end.”

“Do you have any idea how long it lasted?” Sam asked. That was one thing she hadn’t seen notated in the reports.

“I’ve gone over it in my mind a thousand times, and I just don’t know how long it was. It felt like an hour at the time, but it was probably more like ten or fifteen minutes. Long enough for him to rape me twice.”