“I Survived a Serial Killer” documents the harrowing, heroic stories of one or more survivors of the same serial killers. Told from the survivors’ point of view, the series highlights the strength and perseverance of regular people encountering and overcoming pure evil.
As an appropriate follow-up to A&E’s “Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America,” a profile of five notorious serial killers from the 1960s and 1970s, comes “I Survived a Serial Killer,” which chronicles the unlikely outcome of encountering a repeat murderer and living to tell the story. Over the course of twelve 30-minute episodes, abductees recount their experiences with gruesome detail. Described from the survivor’s point of view, the facts are chilling, as they make clear how perilously close each of them came to becoming the next dead victim.
The killers profiled include Andrew Urdiales, Richard Beasley (The Craigslist Killer), Angel Resendiz (The Railway Killer), and David Parker Ray (The Toy Box Killer). Interviews with police investigators and other experts who have direct knowledge of the events round out the narrative with their credible recollections.
The first episode lays out how Jennifer Abenson accepts a ride from what seems like a nice guy. He asks her out, but out of an abundance of caution, she gives him a fake phone number. The next night he confronts her and explodes. Abenson asks the interviewer how another human being could turn into a complete monster in a split second.
Her assailant, Andrew Urdiales then transports her to a desolate desert location with the confidence of an experienced hand. He threatens to kill her, at which point Abenson admits she felt all hope drain from her body. Later, however, after Urdiales forces Abenson into his trunk, she regains her optimism and strength and eventually escapes. In yet another unexpected twist, when Abenson reports the crime, neither the authorities nor even her own mother believed the story. Years went by before Urdiales was apprehended in Illinois and Abenson’s account was vindicated. After his capture in Chicago, Urdiales led police to the other crimes he had perpetrated in Palm Desert, California – as if the prospect of not getting full credit for all of the murders he committed was more than he could bear. This odd recurring theme through the ranks of serial killers speaks volumes about the level of narcissism and the sheer ego embodied in the nature of their crimes.
Hearing the harrowing tales of the abducted women makes for gripping television, but happily, the tension is also assuaged by the fact that everyone survived the ordeal – at least physically.
New series premieres Wednesday, August 18th at 9:30 pm ET/PT
