Page 99 of Everything She Feared

“This shoe was found at your residence,” West said. “But not its mate. Now, you may have thought it was misplaced and would turn up.”

West set down another photo of the missing shoe, white with pink stripes.

“It did turn up,” West said. “In Idaho, where you faked car trouble and flagged down a woman while holding your daughter so you and Herman could kill her. But she fought back, she survived, and here you are, facing multiple first-degree murder charges.”

“You’ll likely never see Hayley again. And in this state,” Avelar said, “the death penalty’s a certainty for you.”

Magda’s eye twitched.

“Magda,” West said. “This case will proceed, with or without your help. It’s pretty much guaranteed—you’ll never be free again.”

Realizing she was trapped, all the blood drained from Magda’s face.

“Now’s the time for you to take control, here,” West said. “Tell us everything, tell us the truth. And we’ll make sure the county attorney knows that you cooperated. No guarantees, but it could help.”

The agents stood.

“We’ll give you a moment to think it over,” West said.

“Remember,” Avelar said, “Herman could beat you to it. He could work a deal and walk free with your daughter. The clock is ticking.”

Magda began rocking back and forth. The handcuffs jingled as she covered her face with her hands. A few seconds later she looked up to the camera, then to the agents, stopping them cold at the door.

“Herman killed the couple from Boston. He killed the Arizona college girls. He killed the British tourists and the guy from Denver. He killed them all. I couldn’t stop him. He beat me and would’ve killed me and Hayley if I didn’t obey and do what he said. I had no choice. It was not my fault.”

“Are you prepared to tell us everything, Magda?” West said.

“First, I want a lawyer. I want a deal and I want my daughter back.”

45

Seattle, Washington

Ryan exhaled.

The next recording he cued up was labeledHERMAN ARRESTED.

Herman Vryker, aged twenty-six, parents divorced, raised by his uncle in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Herman was a long-haul trucker with a long record of moving violations that included: speeding, an improper lane change and twice he’d bumped cars on the highway.

Herman sat in the drab interview room, wearing an orange prisoner jumpsuit. Unshaven, eyes bloodshot, his unwashed hair matted, he was handcuffed along with a leg iron attached to the metal table. Beside him, his lawyer, Heinrich Butler, read documents while they waited without speaking, both unaware what had transpired with Magda in the previous days.

Watching them, Ryan reflected on how at that time the investigators had considered their case a bit shaky. Outside of the failed attack in Idaho, they had no bodies and no murder scenes. The fact Magda and Herman possessed items belonging to missing people was not enough. They needed admissions from Magda and Herman to tie together the evidence and facts they had.

In most jurisdictions the law allowed detectives to be deceptive with a suspect in pursuit of the truth. So they’d gone to Magda first, having not yet questioned Herman. Telling her they’d spoken to Herman, they wanted her believing her husband had turned against her. They also planted the seed that Magda was facing execution and would likely never see her daughter again, which was true.

It worked.

With her attorney beside her, Magda was questioned for hours, during which she detailed the killings and her role in them. In exchange she would plead guilty but wanted to be reunited with her daughter. Magda wanted a light sentence, five to seven years, in a minimum-security prison with access to college courses of her choosing. After which she’d be released with no conditions. Once she started serving her time, she would help locate the bodies, so the families of their victims would have some peace.

Days passed as approval was sought from the county attorney, right up through to Montana’s Attorney General’s Office. Lawyers for the office consulted with their counterparts in Idaho and Washington. Given the scale and horrific nature of the case, the state revised the deal to a take-it-or-leave-it final status.

The state said Magda would serve twenty years. She’d be released with no conditions, no parole, no reporting and—given how Magda had used her baby daughter in commission of first-degree murders—there would be no mother and child reunion. The state would become Hayley’s guardian and she would be put up for adoption to start a new life with a new name. Magda would not be given any details. There would be no contact. Her daughter would be taken away from her.

Magda was outraged.

But if she rejected the deal, she’d face execution.

“You have no choice,” West told Magda, echoing her claim in the killings.

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