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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
00:01:41
please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
00:01:47
notes for this episode on your app or on our website due to the nature of this crime
00:01:54
caseville has elected to change the names of several individuals featured in this episode
00:02:03
in april of 2004 teenager laura fletcher had recently celebrated her 18th birthday
00:02:11
she was in the final months of her senior year of high school and was set to graduate as one of the
00:02:16
top 10 students in her class an avid painter and photographer laura took advanced art lessons to further her
00:02:24
creative skills but her main ambition was to study pre-med at the university of louisville
00:02:31
in her home state of kentucky so she could later attend to medical school laura's reputation for being responsible
00:02:40
and well-behaved extended outside of school hours she attended church regularly and had
00:02:46
previously been a girl scout when her mother's health issues led to her losing her job
00:02:53
laura offered to help support her family [Music] in january 2004 she got a part-time job
00:03:01
at a local mcdonald's fast food restaurant near her home in mount washington earning 6.35 cents an hour
00:03:10
laura was a reliable employee who was always willing to help out by taking on extra shifts
00:03:18
at around 4 45 pm on friday april 9 laura was preparing to head home after finishing an afternoon shift
00:03:27
before she left her manager asked if she could stay a little longer to cover for
00:03:32
another employee who had just called in sick friday evenings were always busy and the
00:03:39
restaurant couldn't afford to be understaffed laura would only have to stay until
00:03:45
someone else could be found to work the entire shift [Music] happy to help and eager for the chance
00:03:52
to earn a little extra money laura agreed to continue working [Music] mcdonald's employees who worked a double
00:04:27
shift were given a free meal to tide them over so laura took a short break to wait
00:04:33
before returning behind the counter also working that night was 51 year old donna summers one of the restaurant's
00:04:42
assistant managers like laura summers was relatively new to the franchise she had only been working there for
00:04:51
about eight months just as laura returned to serving customers the restaurant's phone rang at 4 56 pm
00:05:01
summers answered it on the other end was a man who identified himself as a police
00:05:07
officer named officer scott officer scott explained that he had mcdonald's corporate on another line
00:05:16
as well as lisa siddens the store's manager he was calling because a child who had
00:05:23
been in the restaurant earlier had her coin purse stolen the culprit was believed to be one of
00:05:29
summer's employees he provided a physical description of the suspect young white and female with a petite
00:05:38
build and dark hair she was wearing a mcdonald's uniform officer scott also described the tyre
00:05:46
that the suspect was wearing summer's immediately thought of laura fletcher even though her work record was
00:05:56
exemplary she fit the suspect's description perfectly while leaving officer scott
00:06:03
waiting on the phone summers found laura and asked her to accompany her to the manager's office
00:06:09
at the back of the restaurant the small cramped room had a tiled floor with a desk and a countertop running
00:06:18
against opposing walls their surfaces were crowded with a computer and various items of stationery
00:06:27
a filing cabinet sat to one side and boxes were stacked beneath the benchtop perched up high in the ceiling was a
00:06:36
cctv camera summers led laura into the manager's office before locking the door behind them
00:06:45
she then informed laura that a police officer had accused her of robbing a customer
00:06:51
shocked laura immediately protested her innocence telling her manager donna i've never
00:06:59
done anything wrong i could never steal summers responded that a police officer had described laura as the person
00:07:08
responsible officer scott was still waiting on the phone summers switched between speaking to him
00:07:18
and laura officer scott informed summers that laura had two choices she could either submit to a search for
00:07:27
the stolen purse then and there or she could wait until an officer came to arrest her
00:07:32
and undergo a search at the police station upon learning of her options laura started to cry
00:07:40
and begged to be taken to the police station so the matter could be cleared up there
00:07:46
summers handed the phone to laura who spoke to officer scott herself after doing so laura agreed to be
00:07:55
searched on the spot officer scott issued instructions to summers who in turn relayed them to laura
00:08:07
first laura was asked to empty her pockets she did so without complaint after handing over her keys and her cell
00:08:16
phone laura revealed there was no stolen purse in her pockets officer scott suspected that the item
00:08:25
could be hidden underneath laura's clothing and ordered her to undress by this time another assistant manager
00:08:34
named kim dockery arrived to start work kim was set to replace summers for the evening shift
00:08:44
upon discovering what was happening in the manager's office kim asked what was going on
00:08:51
summers refused to say had officer scott's command as summers and kim looked on laura
00:09:00
reluctantly removed her mcdonald's uniform one piece at a time until she stood in
00:09:05
nothing but her underwear she covered her face and cried while summers inspected each garment
00:09:13
closely and shook each of them out there was no sign of the stolen purse in laura's clothing
00:09:22
she was then instructed to remove her underwear and surrender that as well laura was now
00:09:29
completely naked as summers queried at the validity of the accusation against laura officer scott made a
00:09:39
startling statement he told summers that laura was also being investigated for using
00:09:46
and to dealing drugs police officers were currently searching her family home in nearby taylorsville
00:09:55
consequently laura's clothes and other belongings were considered evidence in the drug investigation
00:10:03
officer scott told summers to place them all inside a bag and to leave them in her car so that he
00:10:09
could collect them shortly summers did as she was told kim dockery hugged laura and tried to
00:10:19
comfort her stating if this was happening to my daughter i'd be pissed she handed laura an apron
00:10:29
so that she could cover herself as the restaurant was experiencing its peak hour
00:10:35
kim returned to the restaurant floor summers told officer scott that she also needed to get back to work
00:10:45
requested that she find a male employee to watch over laura until police arrived summers
00:10:53
summoned jason bradley a 27-year-old cook she left him in the office with laura and the telephone while she went back to
00:11:02
her managerial duties in the restaurant laura held the apron against the front of her body
00:11:10
as jason faced away from her and spoke to officer scott upon learning that laura was wearing
00:11:17
nothing but an apron officer scott told jason to remove it and describe her body to him
00:11:25
this made jason angry after speaking with the officer for several minutes he stormed out of the
00:11:33
office and told summers the entire matter was a lot of bs he flatly told her that he wanted no
00:11:40
part of it before resuming his work in the kitchen summers didn't understand what jason was
00:11:49
upset about so she resumed control of the phone by now it had been 40 minutes since she
00:11:56
had answered officer scott's call summers explained that there was nobody else available to keep
00:12:03
watch over laura in response officer scott asked are you married summers giggled and informed to the
00:12:14
officer that she was actually engaged when asked if she trusted her fiance summers said she did officer scott
00:12:24
queried whether summer's fiancee would be able to come to the restaurant to keep an eye on laura
00:12:32
summers agreed to call him and ask walter nix jr was a 42 year old father of two
00:12:44
who worked as an exterminator a church-going man who coached youth baseball teams
00:12:50
he was considered an upstanding member of the community he and donna summers had only recently
00:12:56
gotten engaged shortly before 6pm summers used her cell phone to call nyx she explained that an employee was being
00:13:08
investigated for theft and dealing drugs when asked if he could help by keeping watch over her until police arrived
00:13:17
nix agreed he arrived at the mcdonald's soon afterwards summers ushered her fiance to the manager's
00:13:26
office then left him alone with laura and to the office phone laura was crying she couldn't leave the
00:13:36
office despite her desire to do so her only escape would be to run naked through the busy restaurant floor
00:13:45
she also felt physically intimidated by nyx who was a foot taller than her and weighed 230 pounds
00:13:55
laura stood with her back against one of the counters nyx sat on a nearby swivel chair and
00:14:02
spoke to officer scott who identified himself as a detective he requested that nix remove laura's
00:14:11
apron and describe her body unlike jason earlier nyx did as asked he also began relaying other directions
00:14:23
laura was made to stand on a chair and a desk so that she could be examined closely
00:14:30
then she was ordered to perform star jumps to shake loose any items she might be concealing in or on her
00:14:37
body she was forced to run on the spot until she worked up a sweat officer scott said that this would help
00:14:47
determine what kind of drugs she had taken he also had her bend over so that nyx
00:14:54
could perform a cavity search every now and then nyx would hand laura the phone so she could speak to officer scott
00:15:03
herself the officer told laura that if she wanted to keep her job then she needed to cooperate
00:15:14
occasionally donna summers or kim dockery entered the office nicks alerted officer scott whenever
00:15:22
they could be heard returning in turn he would tell nex to stop what he was doing
00:15:30
nyx would throw the apron back at laura and instruct her to be quiet laura did not tell summers about the
00:15:38
things she was being forced to do but each time she saw her manager she begged to be let go
00:15:47
by 6 50 pm laura had been in the office with nyx for almost an hour officer scott's demands were becoming
00:15:57
increasingly distressing when laura failed to address him as sir and continued to ask
00:16:05
questions nix was ordered to spank her as punishment while seated nicks made laura life face
00:16:13
down across his thighs and slapped her buttocks forcefully for almost 10 minutes large red waltz appeared on
00:16:22
her skin throughout the beating laura begged a knicks to stop she told him that the orders were
00:16:30
ridiculous her pleas only resulted in knicks hitting her more violently the beating concluded at about 7 05
00:16:42
pm several minutes later donna summers returned to the office nix was seated and laura was standing
00:16:51
with her back to the corner nearest the computer she had the apron covering her when summers moved close to get
00:17:01
something laura quietly begged please get me out of here donna please please i didn't do anything wrong
00:17:12
please believe me she asked summers to call the police directly but was told that they were still
00:17:21
waiting for an officer to arrive summers then left the office nyx and laura were left alone once more
00:17:36
officer scott resumed his instructions he told nix to have laura sit on his lap and give him a kiss
00:17:44
so that he could smell anything that might be on her breath laura went numb and felt as though her
00:17:52
soul left her body just before 7 30 pm officer scott demanded that laura remove nyx's pants and
00:18:02
perform oral sex on him she cried and pleaded with her captor stating no i didn't do anything wrong
00:18:13
this is ridiculous nix threatened to hit her again if she didn't do as officers got ordered
00:18:23
consequently laura was sexually assaulted yet again just over 10 minutes later at 7 52 pm
00:18:34
donna summers re-entered the office to fetch some gift certificates laura was again cowering in the corner
00:18:42
and nix was standing at officer scott's direction he handed the phone back to summers
00:18:50
nix then left the restaurant and got in his car he drove the few short blocks to his
00:18:57
home once inside he called a friend telling him i have done something terribly bad
00:19:10
meanwhile donna summers was following officer scott's directive to find someone to replace nyx in the manager's
00:19:17
office she selected 58 year old maintenance worker thomas sims he wasn't rusted on that day
00:19:26
and had just stopped by the restaurant to have a coffee and dessert summers asked thomas to accompany her to
00:19:34
the back office laura fletcher was inside attempting to conceal her naked body with a small
00:19:42
apron shocked thomas took the phone and summers left him alone with laura officer scott then ordered thomas to
00:19:54
remove laura's apron and describe her body he also asked repeatedly what laura was doing with her hands
00:20:05
thomas refused to comply and instead left to find summers he told her what the caller was asking him to do
00:20:14
and stated something is not right about this thomas demanded that laura's clothes be
00:20:22
returned to her and that someone called the police stunned by what thomas had told her
00:20:30
summers called the store manager lisa siddens officer scott had been claiming that lisa was on the other line
00:20:38
for the entire duration of his call lisa answered the phone sounding tired she had no idea what summers was
00:20:49
referring to and explained that she had been in bed sleeping summers became distraught and began
00:20:58
begging laura for forgiveness confused and concerned lisa headed to the restaurant
00:21:07
once summers realized she had been duped the caller pretending to be officer scott hung up
00:21:16
laura fletcher's ordeal had gone on for almost three hours freezing cold and trembling in shock she asked whether she
00:21:26
would still need to work her shift the next day assistant manager kim dockery reassured laura that she could
00:21:34
take as much time off as she needed she was given her clothes and allowed to dress
00:21:42
meanwhile lisa siddens and some of the restaurants other employees arrived at the scene
00:21:50
the panicked mcdonald's workers gathered in the manager's office after discussing the matter amongst
00:21:56
themselves they called the police at around 9pm as the mount washington police station
00:22:04
was only a quarter of a mile away officers arrived within five minutes in 2004 mount washington had a
00:22:14
population of about 8 500 people consequently the local police department was small
00:22:22
with just 16 officers on staff buddy stump was the department's only detective he had only been on the job for several
00:22:34
weeks when the call came through from the nearby mcdonald's he was the first of his colleagues to
00:22:41
arrive at the restaurant and listened in disbelief as he was told what had happened
00:22:47
there the cctv camera in the manager's office captured laura fletcher's entire raw deal
00:22:55
the footage enraged detective stump he suspected the prank call was made from a pay phone with inside of the
00:23:04
mcdonald's building so that the perpetrator could watch the fallout of his sick joke
00:23:14
the following day the mount washington police chief decided to type the words mcdonald's strip search into google
00:23:22
to his and detective stump's surprise the search resulted in hundreds of hits similar phone calls had been made
00:23:31
throughout the united states in all of the incidents a male caller would claim to be either a police
00:23:39
officer or another kind of authority figure then ask a store manager to assist with an investigation
00:23:47
their requests always involved ordering a strip search be carried out on a young
00:23:52
woman often a teenager most of the calls were made to fast food restaurants but grocery
00:24:00
stores had also received a few the caller appeared to be deliberately targeting small town communities
00:24:10
he had been active for 12 years with his earliest calls dating back to 1992. there was a sudden spike in reports
00:24:19
throughout the late 90s and early 2000s the mount washington incident wasn't the
00:24:27
first time he had targeted a store in kentucky on november 30 2000 a female manager
00:24:34
at a mcdonald's in litchfield received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer
00:24:42
he suspected one of the customers inside the restaurant was a sex offender and persuaded the manager to remove her
00:24:49
clothing in an attempt to bait the suspect into committing sexual assault he promised that
00:24:57
undercover officers were monitoring the situation and would rush in to protect her before
00:25:02
an assault could actually take place [Music] by the end of the year 2000 more than a
00:25:10
dozen of these scam calls had been reported when 2003 drew to a close there had been
00:25:17
almost 60 similar incidents police departments struggled to determine what actual crime had been
00:25:25
committed or how to pursue the caller this led to the reported phone calls often being filed under miscellaneous
00:25:35
as time went on the perpetrator's demands grew increasingly aggressive in february 2003 the perpetrator called
00:25:46
a mcdonald's in hinesville georgia pretending to be a police officer he commanded the restaurant manager to
00:25:54
strip search a female employee in the women's bathroom he then convinced her to bring in a male
00:26:00
employee and had him carry out a cavity search on the victim by 2004 there had been 70 of these
00:26:10
hoaxes perpetrated across 32 american states in february he targeted four separate
00:26:18
wendy's fast food restaurants in several neighborhoods south of boston massachusetts
00:26:25
investigators there initially believed it was a local matter but after looking online they discovered
00:26:32
the true extent of the offending a multi-jurisdictional task force was established to investigate the crimes
00:26:41
led by detective sergeant victor flaherty just weeks before laura fletcher was assaulted
00:26:50
a 17 year old female customer had a taco bell in maricopa county arizona was strip searched by a manager
00:26:58
while he was on the phone with the supposed police officer like laura the girl was made to perform
00:27:05
star jumps and endure a cavity search on this occasion the local law enforcement was aware of the wider
00:27:14
pattern and the task force established in massachusetts the maricopa county sheriff
00:27:22
gave an interview on cnn warning the public about the nationwide trend he called it a very dangerous
00:27:30
situation by the time laura fletcher was assaulted at least 17 mcdonald's managers had been duped by
00:27:40
the caller more than a dozen employees were charged with the various crimes as a result
00:27:47
but the perpetrator remained a mystery those who had taken his calls described him as having a calm
00:27:56
and authoritative manner his conversations were peppered with police jargon adding an element of authenticity
00:28:06
he often knew the names of restaurant managers or local police officers and used these to sound more credible
00:28:15
some managers carried out the caller's orders with enthusiasm but others cried while doing as they
00:28:21
were told one individual who assaulted an employee on the caller's orders later stated didn't want to be doing it
00:28:31
but it was like he was watching me upon learning of the scammer's extensive history
00:28:42
detective buddy stump made it his goal to identify and capture him once and for all
00:28:50
after the offender had hung up on his call to the mount washington mcdonald's an employee had the presence of mind to
00:28:57
dial star69 this function allowed a call made to a landline to be returned the employee jotted down the scammer's
00:29:08
number but it was listed to a non-existent phone despite this detective stump was able to
00:29:17
determine that a prepaid calling card from telecommunications company a tnt was used to make the call
00:29:27
this discovery had also been made by other police departments but they'd struggled to find any further
00:29:33
information detective stump was able to trace the use of the card to a payphone located outside a supermarket in panama
00:29:43
city a coastal city in florida more than 600 miles away after calling a tnt directly detective
00:29:54
stump learned that the largest seller of their phone cards in panama city was walmart a nationwide chain of
00:30:01
discount department stores there were three walmarts in panama city detective stump contacted panama city
00:30:12
police who put him in touch with detective victor flaherty the investigator leading the
00:30:18
massachusetts-based task force investigating the strip search scammer detective flaherty had already linked
00:30:26
the boston scam calls to an at t prepaid calling card sold at a panama city walmart
00:30:34
he had even isolated the specific store where it had been purchased however the store only had cctv cameras
00:30:44
covering its entrances and exits as there was no surveillance in place around its cash registers
00:30:51
there was no footage of the suspect actually buying the card nevertheless detective flaherty made a
00:30:59
note of individuals filmed entering the store at the approximate time the card was
00:31:05
sold detective stump and flaherty joined forces and began trying to find out when and
00:31:14
where the calling card used in the mount washington case was purchased they sourced its personal identification
00:31:22
number and determined it had been sold at another panama city walmart on friday april 9 at 302
00:31:30
pm less than two hours before the caller initiated laura fletcher's assault the card was purchased with cash so
00:31:42
there was no paper trail yet this particular walmart had surveillance cameras filming its
00:31:49
registers footage taken at the exact time the card was sold revealed that the buyer was a white man
00:31:58
aged between 35 and 40. he had dark slicked back hair and eyeglasses he wore a pair of pants
00:32:07
with a blue stripe down the side and a black jacket with small white lettering detective flaherty
00:32:16
recognized the man as one of the individuals he had noted entering the other panama city walmart
00:32:22
at the time the calling card used in the boston scams was bought on june 28 detective flaherty arrived in
00:32:32
panama city to speak with local detectives when shown the walmart cctv footage of
00:32:39
the suspect the panama city detectives immediately recognized his clothing it was the uniform worn by officers
00:32:48
employed at bay correctional facility a private prison in the area flaherty went to the prison and to the
00:32:58
warden identified the walmart shopper as 38 year old david stewart he was a guard who had worked the
00:33:08
prison's swing shift for the past 11 months stuart was married with five children
00:33:16
he'd previously worked as a truck driver and mall security guard he had also volunteered as an auxiliary
00:33:24
sheriff's deputy detective flaherty paid stuart a visit and after introducing himself asked
00:33:34
why would a sergeant from massachusetts be coming down here to talk to you stewart replied
00:33:42
that he had no idea detective flaherty then queried whether he had ever owned a calling card
00:33:51
at that moment it appeared to detective flaherty that stuart began shaking and sweating
00:33:57
profusely he unclipped the tie he was wearing and asked whether anyone had been hurt
00:34:05
detective flaherty said that no one had been physically harmed but he was sure there would be ongoing
00:34:11
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file despite his cryptic remark expressing relief that it was all over david stewart claimed to know nothing
00:40:40
about the scam calls and denied ever owning a calling card he then promptly retained a lawyer and
00:40:47
reserved the right to remain silent massachusetts investigators were unsure what to even charge him with
00:40:55
and panama city police were unfamiliar with the calls he was accused of making 20 miles north of panama city officers
00:41:06
pulled into the dirt road that led to stuart's mobile home they had been issued a warrant to search
00:41:13
the premises inside the trailer they found multiple guns and holsters hundreds of law enforcement magazines
00:41:23
were scattered about there were also dozens of applications for jobs at police departments
00:41:31
a single prepaid calling card was recovered it wasn't the one used to call the mount
00:41:38
washington mcdonald's but it was connected to nine other scam calls made during the summer of 2003
00:41:47
the targets in those calls included wendy's and burger king restaurants in idaho and oklahoma
00:41:55
the first of david stewart's charges was handed down by mount washington police they charged him with soliciting for
00:42:03
sodomy which was a felony crime he was placed under arrest and extradited to kentucky
00:42:11
he was also charged with impersonating a police officer as well as the misdemeanors of
00:42:17
soliciting sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment stewart pleaded not guilty and was
00:42:24
released on bail for one hundred thousand dollars his trial was slated to take place at
00:42:31
the end of the year the other individuals involved in laura fletcher's assault were facing
00:42:38
ramifications of their own walter nix was charged with sodomy and assault he maintained that he too was a victim
00:42:48
as he genuinely believed he was following the orders of a police officer even when those orders turned violent
00:42:56
and sexual his fiancee donna summers had been shown the cctv footage of nick's sexually
00:43:03
assaulting laura and promptly ended their relationship summers was initially suspended from her
00:43:11
assistant manager position at mcdonald's and later fired in dismissing her mcdonald's cited violation of company
00:43:20
policy specifically bringing a non-employee behind the store's counters summers was also charged with one
00:43:30
misdemeanor count of unlawful imprisonment the other assistant manager on duty that night
00:43:36
kim dockery was transferred to another restaurant laura fletcher never returned to her job
00:43:45
at mcdonald's the ordeal left her suffering from panic attacks insomnia anxiety and depression and she
00:43:53
was terrorized by nightmares of a man attacking her laura did graduate high school the month after her attack
00:44:03
but was too traumatized to enroll at the university of louisville as she had planned in a court document
00:44:11
filed that year she stated i can't trust anyone i push people out of my life because i don't want them to know what
00:44:20
happened laura fletcher filed a civil lawsuit against mcdonald's alleging that they had failed to warn
00:44:32
employees of the strip search scammer who was targeting fast food outlets in response mcdonald's stated in court
00:44:41
documents that laura herself was partially to blame for her assault they asserted that she should
00:44:48
have realized that the caller was not a real police officer the company's reaction upset laura and
00:44:56
played a part in her approving a play bargain for walter nix she wanted an apology and for her name
00:45:04
to be absolved his charges of sodomy and assault together carried a maximum of 20 years
00:45:11
in prison they were negotiated down to one count of unlawful imprisonment and one of sexual misconduct
00:45:21
nix had agreed to say sorry to laura in court and explained that she wasn't to blame
00:45:30
in october 2005 it was announced that nix would only receive probation despite previously agreeing to a
00:45:38
one-year term the prosecuting attorney said that he agreed to probation because nix didn't
00:45:45
have a criminal history and his story of being duped by an experienced hoaxer would likely be compelling to a jury
00:45:54
he did note however that it was troubling that somebody could believe performing a sexual act would form part
00:46:01
of any criminal investigation quote there had to be a point where he realized that this wasn't right
00:46:13
nick centered an alford plea which allowed him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that there was
00:46:19
enough evidence to convict him when laura discovered that this deal allowed a knicks to technically deny
00:46:27
any wrongdoing and would prevent him from having to register as a sex offender she felt betrayed yet again
00:46:36
her lawyer explained that her opposition stemmed from nix's claim that he'd merely been
00:46:42
following orders quote that is the defense made by germans at nuremberg you could be fooled into some of the
00:46:51
things he did but not sodomy on november 2 2005 nix's lawyer argued in court that his alfred plea be
00:47:04
allowed to stand she pointed to her client's remorse and his below average iq of 83 stating
00:47:13
he does feel terribly ashamed he has hurt his family and himself and laura nix offered a public apology to laura
00:47:23
saying i had no intention of hurting anyone nevertheless judge tom waller rejected
00:47:32
the plea agreement he had viewed the surveillance footage of the attack and was deeply
00:47:38
troubled by what had occurred he set a trial date for the following month at around the same time that nix's court
00:47:49
proceedings were being negotiated laura agreed to speak to the abc news program prime time about her ordeal
00:47:59
she explained how she had trusted donna summers believing her role as assistant manager
00:48:05
meant she would take care of her staff laura teared up as she described how she had felt during the
00:48:12
strip search stating i was scared i didn't know what to think i didn't know what to do
00:48:20
i was petrified she said that she had desperately wanted to escape the office but couldn't bear the added humiliation
00:48:30
of running naked through the busy restaurant laura's parents had raised her to do
00:48:36
what she was told without arguing and she said this made it difficult for her to refuse the orders of an older
00:48:43
adult the show included comments from a clinical psychologist who confirmed that laura's description
00:48:50
of feeling as though she had left her own body during the assault was common among survivors of sexual
00:48:57
abuse donna summers also agreed to participate in the program like her fiance summers was adamant that
00:49:08
she had believed the individual on the phone was a police officer throughout the
00:49:14
interview summer's version of events directly contradicted the cctv footage shown of the attack she said laura had
00:49:24
not cried or begged for the strip search to stop but the video evidence showed her openly
00:49:30
sobbing and pleading with her managers when asked why she left a naked teenager alone with her fiance
00:49:38
summers repeatedly stated that laura had always been covered up yet the interviewer pointed out that the
00:49:47
apron given to laura was small and only partially concealed the front of her body
00:49:54
summers denied ever seeing laura without her apron while nyx was supervising her
00:50:01
the interviewer attempted to show summers a portion of the surveillance video that showed her entering the office
00:50:08
while laura was completely naked summer's lawyer interrupted from off camera to prevent her client
00:50:16
from offering an explanation [Music] walter nix's trial date was delayed so that he could undergo a mental health
00:50:25
evaluation eventually his lawyers negotiated another plea deal in february 2006 nix pleaded guilty to
00:50:36
charges of sexual abuse sexual misconduct and unlawful imprisonment in exchange for a five-year prison
00:50:43
sentence when asked if she agreed to the deal laura confirmed that she did this new arrangement required nyx to
00:50:54
serve time register as a sex offender and to testify as a witness at the pending trial of the alleged
00:51:01
scammer david stewart three weeks later donna summers entered an alfred plea to her misdemeanor charge of unlawful
00:51:11
imprisonment she had initially intended to plead not guilty but an agreement was struck to prevent
00:51:20
laura from having to testify summers was sentenced to one year's probation the prosecutor had argued in favour of
00:51:30
summers being sent to prison stating it didn't matter whether summers thought she was dealing with police or
00:51:38
not if the president of the united states said to take that child's clothes away
00:51:43
and detain her in that room there was no excuse for it however leniency was granted after laura
00:51:53
said that she believed her former manager had been genuinely duped and was another victim of the crime
00:52:01
summers left the courthouse in tears she told the media that she never would have detained and stripped laura
00:52:10
if mcdonald's had warned her about the other scam phone calls david stewart's trial commenced on
00:52:22
october 24 2006 at the bullitt county circuit court it had been two and a half years since
00:52:30
laura fletcher's assault the delaying court proceedings was to allow for the charges against
00:52:36
nicks and summers to be addressed first so they could appear as witnesses against
00:52:41
stuart in their opening address the prosecution warned the jury that they would be hearing testimony so
00:52:49
bizarre that it would be difficult to believe yet the court was assured that phone records
00:52:56
and surveillance video would prove the defendant's guilt stewart's attorney insisted that the
00:53:04
allegations were false and there was no evidence to support them he claimed that police had only charged
00:53:11
his client because they were desperate to make an arrest walter nix took the stand and told the
00:53:19
court that within minutes of speaking to the individual calling himself officer scott he felt as though the man
00:53:26
had control of his mind nix described himself as easygoing and amenable to following authority figures
00:53:36
he discussed the tasks that officer scott wanted laura to perform and explained how he had conveyed them
00:53:43
on the officer's behalf under cross-examination by stewart's attorney nix was asked whether he had eventually
00:53:52
realized that the things he was doing had nothing to do with a police investigation
00:53:59
nix insisted that he had simply done as instructed and described the caller as a smooth
00:54:05
talker donna summers also testified she claimed she had spoken to three separate people
00:54:14
on the phone with the main individual being officer scott in the background she heard the static
00:54:22
of police radios summers said that officer scott had known the names of several of her
00:54:29
employees as well as the name of a customer in the restaurant he'd claimed that he had the store's
00:54:36
manager lisa siddens on another line summers even thought she'd heard elise's voice in the background
00:54:44
during the call under cross-examination summers was asked whether she thought the call could have been
00:54:52
made from an outdoor pay phone as the prosecution was alleging she said that wasn't possible
00:55:01
mount washington investigator detective buddy stamp was asked how the scammer could have
00:55:07
known employee and customer names or presented himself as three separate individuals he replied
00:55:16
that he didn't know as investigators were never able to verify those assertions laura fletcher who was now 20 years old
00:55:27
testified on the second day of the trial summers had claimed that she gave laura
00:55:34
the choice to be searched at the restaurant or be taken into police custody and that
00:55:39
laura had opted to stay at mcdonald's laura refuted this saying that she had begged to be taken to the police station
00:55:48
in the hopes that the matter could be sorted out there when the prosecutor asked why she never
00:55:55
tried to leave the office laura explained that she felt she couldn't as she was naked
00:56:01
and feared next might hurt her moreover she depended on the job to support her family
00:56:08
and was terrified of losing it as her father was an air force veteran she had been raised to respect
00:56:16
and obey her elders and authority figures laura said she had pleaded for summers
00:56:23
to help her on multiple occasions but was ignored while relating details of her ordeal to
00:56:31
the court laura noted there were gaps in her memory as she had quote blanked out some aspects of the
00:56:39
assault detective victor flaherty told the court that stewart had made the cryptic remark
00:56:48
amen at zova during their initial conversation stewart's attorney insisted that the
00:56:55
comment was made at the end of an interrogation and was an expression of relief that it
00:57:01
was over the defense attempted to cast doubt by pointing out that no one had seen stuart
00:57:07
at the pay phone where the three-hour call to the mount washington mcdonald's was made from
00:57:13
they also pointed out that although a prepaid calling card linked to several scam calls was found
00:57:20
in stuart's home it was not the one used to contact the mount washington mcdonald's
00:57:28
thomas sims the maintenance worker who had put a stop to laura's ordeal testified that laura
00:57:35
had stated she was going to get a big check as a result of what she had been through
00:57:41
thomas admitted that he'd never told the police about this remark and only repeated it to mcdonald's
00:57:47
corporate officials who had interviewed him later on stewart's legal team used this testimony
00:57:55
to theorize that laura had orchestrated the attack as a scam to obtain a large sum of money
00:58:03
laura's attorney told the media that the accusation that her client was involved
00:58:08
in her own assault was quote a ridiculous and desperate suggestion in his closing argument stewart's lawyer
00:58:19
told the jury that his client was nothing more than a full guy for police stating
00:58:26
they came to a conclusion then went about looking for facts to support it on tuesday october 31 the jury of
00:58:39
six men and six women retired to consider their verdict they returned to court less than two
00:58:47
hours later david stewart closed his eyes and bowed his head as a not guilty verdict
00:58:55
was read aloud the jury had acquitted him of all charges when he was permitted to leave the
00:59:03
courtroom stuart left in silence with his family he refused to speak with the waiting press
00:59:12
stuart's attorney celebrated the acquittal and told journalists it was the result
00:59:17
of what evidence the prosecution had but prosecutor mike mann said he was certain police had found
00:59:25
the right person he pointed out that there had been no further strip search scam calls since stuart was arrested
00:59:33
two and a half years earlier law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions across the country had
00:59:40
been waiting to see how the trial against you it panned out for many of the scam calls that occurred
00:59:47
prior to laura fletcher's assault the only crime stuart could have been charged with was a misdemeanor
00:59:54
extradition from another state would not have been permitted under these circumstances
01:00:01
after the jury in bullitt county kentucky found stewart not guilty there were no further
01:00:07
charges brought against him for any of the other cases throughout the united states of which
01:00:13
there were more than seventy laura fletcher was seeking more than 200 million dollars in damages from
01:00:21
mcdonald's she was suing the then 59 billion dollar corporation for assault battery sexual harassment and
01:00:31
failure to train her attorneys alleged that mcdonald's failed to protect laura by neglecting to warn staff about
01:00:39
the ongoing hoaxes the company had been aware of the issue for at least two years prior to her ordeal
01:00:50
there had been about 30 other scam calls to mcdonald's restaurants throughout the
01:00:54
country that involved girls and young women being assaulted and forced to strip in front of others twelve of these
01:01:03
incidents resulted in the corporation being taken to court in four different states settlements had
01:01:10
been reached in all of these cases laura's was the first to proceed to trial in addition to suing mcdonald's laura's
01:01:22
suit named assistant managers donna summers and kim dockery as well as david stewart
01:01:30
stewart responded with a letter that read in part i received your notice but i'm in no way
01:01:38
responsible i feel bad for your loss because i am a victim as well i lost my job my home and my car
01:01:47
all over something i did not do louisville newspaper the courier journal revealed
01:01:55
that florida property records indicated stewart had not lost the trailer where he resided
01:02:01
but he had dated it to his wife for 100 donna summers filed a cross complaint against mcdonald's for 50 million
01:02:13
dollars she claimed that they had failed to warn store managers about the hoaxer
01:02:20
her case would be presented alongside laura's in response mcdonald's asserted that
01:02:28
laura was the victim of a malicious hoax by individuals not representing mcdonald's
01:02:36
they blamed summers and walter nix for the incident as well as laura herself mcdonald's insisted that all three
01:02:45
should have realized the call was a scam they also stated that strip searchers had been against
01:02:52
company policy since 2001 and the summers should have known this as it was mentioned in the store manual
01:03:01
after a lengthy discovery period in which 57 depositions were obtained from more than 40 witnesses
01:03:09
the trial commenced in the bullock county circuit court on september 10 2007. mcdonald's had withheld
01:03:18
16 boxes of evidence regarding prior hoaxes from the plaintiffs on the grounds that handing them over
01:03:25
would violate attorney-client privilege a judge forced them to surrender the material
01:03:32
the evening before the trial began the case had received national attention and consequently it was difficult to
01:03:42
find jurors who were unfamiliar with it out of 110 potential jurors less than a dozen had never heard of the
01:03:51
case before eventually the pool was narrowed down to 15 including three alternates
01:04:02
the first witness for the plaintiffs was mcdonald's u.s security manager who testified via video
01:04:09
link about the other scam calls the company received between 1994 and 2004 he said that the company realised there
01:04:19
was a problem in 2001 after franchises began reporting the incidents a top attorney for mcdonald's conceded
01:04:28
that the warning about the calls was inadequate they said employees weren't told about
01:04:34
the scam calls because the corporation didn't want to discourage them from cooperating with the genuine law
01:04:40
enforcement officers expert witness barry collins who was a social psychologist from the university of california told
01:04:50
the court that all of the calls were likely made by a single perpetrator as they all shared an identical method
01:04:58
and signature he said that the perpetrator was someone who quote enjoyed being in control
01:05:06
and ruining people's lives and derived some sexual pleasure from his exploits professor collins explained that
01:05:17
managers who fell for the scam calls were won over gradually the caller would dish out compliments and commendation
01:05:25
to encourage the managers and assure them that they were doing the right thing his trivial requests slowly escalated to
01:05:34
more outrageous demands [Music] collins testified that if mcdonald's had been serious about putting a stop to the
01:05:43
incidents then they could have done so as they had intensive training programs set up on a range of
01:05:50
other matters a psychiatrist who had examined laura testified that she would suffer
01:05:57
post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of her life she was also fearful of strangers and
01:06:04
struggled with intimacy on thursday september 20 laura fletcher began what would end up being six hours
01:06:14
of testimony she broke down in tears as she discussed the assault and its long-standing impact on her
01:06:23
including her struggle to conceal her pain shame and humiliation from friends and
01:06:28
family when asked where she thought responsibility for the incident lay she replied mcdonald's
01:06:40
when it was time for donna summers to take the stand she wept and admitted that she had
01:06:45
considered taking her own life due to ongoing feelings of guilt summers said she prayed for laura daly
01:06:55
but acknowledged that she hadn't asked enough questions when the scammer called she insisted that mcdonald's had never
01:07:04
trained her on the matter or made it clear that strip searches were a violation of company policy
01:07:12
when asked why she left her fiance alone with a naked teenager summers said she had believed nix was
01:07:19
kind and gentle and said she would have trusted him with her own daughter in their opening statement mcdonald's
01:07:32
blamed donna summers for the assault by saying that if she hadn't violated company
01:07:37
policy by bringing nyx into the manager's office then it wouldn't have happened the company denied the assertion that
01:07:46
they had not sufficiently warned staff about the scammer a few days before laura's assault on april 9 2004
01:07:55
a voice message about the calls was sent to mcdonald's managers all over the country one of the
01:08:02
company's human resources executives testified that donna summers exercised poor judgment over a long period of time
01:08:11
and noted that she didn't have authority to remove laura's clothing or invite a non-employee
01:08:18
to the back of the restaurant a psychiatrist and psychologist who were paid as expert witnesses by mcdonald's
01:08:27
contradicted the plaintiff's psychiatrist by saying that laura's trauma was not permanent one
01:08:35
even suggested that she had grown stronger as a result of her assault the defense also argued that laura now
01:08:43
had a happy life with a long-term boyfriend and a well-paid job at a legal firm lisa siddins the mount washington
01:08:53
mcdonald's manager appeared on behalf of the defense she said she had received the company's
01:09:00
voicemail about the scammer but hadn't passed it on to her assistant managers because she didn't think it was
01:09:07
important she also added quote anyone dumb enough to fall for it shouldn't be a manager at mcdonald's
01:09:19
on cross-examination lisa accepted that the voicemail had been vague it merely referred to a caller
01:09:27
asking for employees to be detained and to mention nothing about strip searchers
01:09:34
when asked if she would have treated the voicemail more seriously had she known what sorts of abuses the caller was
01:09:40
demanding lisa answered yes and burst into tears lisa had worked for mcdonald's since
01:09:51
1981 but said she was unfamiliar with its policy barring strip searches and consequently couldn't have told her
01:09:59
subordinates about it it emerged that the company had never trained anybody on the policy
01:10:07
it was one of many listed in a 1 000 page manual the trial concluded after four weeks
01:10:19
the jury of eight women and four men were given 31 pages of instructions and 12 possible verdicts to consider
01:10:29
after deliberating for 13 hours the jury found in favour of laura's suit they assigned half of the blame for her
01:10:38
assault to the scammer and the other half to mcdonald's laura was awarded a total of 6.1 million
01:10:47
dollars this included 1.1 million dollars in compensatory damages and 5 million in punitive damages
01:10:57
the jury attached a note to their verdict imploring mcdonald's to offer more employee training on sexual
01:11:03
harassment and scam calls it was later revealed that the jury had taken so long deliberating because they had been
01:11:12
unable to agree on how much money laura should receive one juror wanted to award her 100
01:11:19
million dollars while another wanted to give her just one dollar the jury also awarded 1.1 million
01:11:29
dollars to donna summers kim dockery the other assistant manager who had been on duty at the time of
01:11:37
laura's assault was exonerated of any responsibility laura burst into tears upon hearing the
01:11:46
verdict and hugged her mother and grandparents she also embraced donna summers and the
01:11:54
two expressed their happiness for each other laura later told the press that she
01:12:00
planned to use the money to go to law school as her original college plans had been
01:12:05
derailed by her assault her lawyer described the verdict as a complete rejection of mcdonald's claim
01:12:14
that they bore no responsibility to laura or other employees who had been victims of the strip search scams
01:12:22
donna summers told the media it was never about the money it was about getting the truth out that
01:12:30
mcdonald's knew all along what was going on this was a complete vindication mcdonald's issued a statement that they
01:12:40
would be considering whether or not to appeal the finding and denoted quote as we've stated previously this
01:12:50
malicious hoax was perpetrated by individuals who do not represent our brand what happened to laura fletcher was
01:12:58
wrong and should never happen to anyone mcdonald's soon lodged an appeal more than two years later the kentucky
01:13:11
court of appeals ruled that they were upholding the jury's decision a three-judge panel found that
01:13:18
mcdonald's legal department had been fully aware of the scammer but made a conscious decision
01:13:25
not to train or warn employees or managers about the calls despite upholding the decision the
01:13:34
judges deemed that the jury's some awarded to donna summers had been excessive her payout was reduced from 1.1 million
01:13:43
dollars to 500.000 mcdonald's was also ordered to pay a further 2.4 million dollars in attorney
01:13:52
fees for laura laura who had since become a mother did not attend the appeal in person
01:14:02
instead one of her lawyers spoke to the media on her behalf stating that she was
01:14:07
thrilled to learn of the verdict mcdonald's then decided to appeal the decision at kentucky's supreme court
01:14:18
in 2010 while this petition was still pending laura settled with the company for an
01:14:24
undisclosed amount and mcdonald's withdrew their second appeal [Music] the case has drawn comparisons to a
01:14:34
famous experiment conducted in the early 1960s by yale university social psychologist
01:14:40
stanley milgram in the experiment professor milgram told his subjects that he was researching
01:14:48
learning what he was really studying was people's willingness to obey authority participants were asked to administer
01:14:57
electric shocks at an ever-increasing voltage to another individual whenever that person answered a question
01:15:04
incorrectly the individuals on the receiving ends of the sharks were in fact actors
01:15:11
who were not harmed at all the experiment found that the majority of participants were willing to
01:15:18
administer the electric shocks even if they felt extremely upset about having to do so
01:15:27
in 1971 stanford university professor philip zimbardo carried out a similar study
01:15:34
which came to be known as the stanford prison experiment his college student participants were
01:15:41
split into two groups and were either assigned the role of a prison guard or an inmate professor zimbardo's aim
01:15:50
was to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power the students embraced their roles
01:15:59
and the guards soon became authoritative and alarmingly abusive towards the inmates the experiment was
01:16:07
abandoned after just six days professor zimbardo was later hired as a consultant by one of the fast food
01:16:18
chains that was targeted by the strip search scammer he suspected that the person responsible had read up on
01:16:25
milgram's work and described him as very skilled in human psychology since mid-2004 there have been no
01:16:37
further reports of a self-identified police officer calling fast food restaurants to demand employee
01:16:44
strip searchers [Music] you