David Parker Ray

This article is about the suspected serial killer known as the Toy-Box Killer. For the Tool-Box Killers, see Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris.

David Parker Ray
Born(1939-11-06)November 6, 1939
Belen, New Mexico, U.S.
DiedMay 28, 2002(2002-05-28) (aged 62)
Lea County Correctional Facility, Hobbs, New Mexico, U.S.
Other namesThe Toy-Box Killer
Children1 daughter, 1 son [1]
Criminal penalty224 years' imprisonment
Details
VictimsNo confirmed murders
3 abuse survivors
60–100+ homicides suspected
Span of crimes
1957–1999
CountryUnited States
State(s)New Mexico
Arizona
Date apprehended
March 22, 1999

David Parker Ray (November 6, 1939 – May 28, 2002), also known as the Toy-Box Killer,[2] was an American kidnapper, torturer, serial rapist and suspected serial killer. Ray kidnapped, raped and tortured an unknown number of women over many decades at his home in Elephant Butte, New Mexico, occasionally assisted by accomplices including his daughter Glenda Jean "Jesse" Ray and partner Cindy Hendy. Ray was suspected by authorities and accused by accomplices of murdering up to 60 of his victims, however no bodies or definitive evidence have ever been uncovered linking him to any murders.[3]

Ray used soundproofing methods on a semi-trailer, which he called his "Toy Box", and equipped it with items used for sexual torture. He would kidnap about four or five women a year, holding each of them captive for around two to three months. During this period he would sexually abuse his victims and often torture them with surgical instruments, sometimes inviting his friends, wife or even his male dog to rape the victim. After keeping them in captivity for a couple months, Ray would then drug the victim with barbiturates in an attempt to erase their memories of what had happened before abandoning them by the side of a road.[4][5][6]

Ray was arrested in March 1999 after one of his victims escaped, and was convicted of kidnapping and torture in 2001. He received a lengthy sentence, but was never tried for murder due to lack of evidence. He died of a myocardial infarction on May 28, 2002, shortly before a planned police interrogation.

  1. ^ Fielder, Jim (January 2003). Slow Death. Kensington Books. p. 121. ISBN 0-7860-1199-8.
  2. ^ Ramsland, Katherine. "David Parker Ray: The Toy Box Killer". TruTV. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008.
  3. ^ Glatt, John (June 17, 2002). Cries in the Desert. St. Martin's True Crime Library. ISBN 0312977565.
  4. ^ "Case 96: The Toy Box (Part 1) - Casefile: True Crime Podcast". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. September 22, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  5. ^ Geberth, Vernon J. (2010). "Chapter 12". Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation: Practical and Clinical Perspectives (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 557–598. ISBN 9781439826553.
  6. ^ Stone, Michael H.; Brucato, Gary (2019). The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. pp. 203–211. ISBN 9781633885325.