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Devil in the Desert

Cat and Mouse

Devil in the Desert

ABC News

True Crime, News

4.6625 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In October 2012, a man is found brutally tortured in the Mojave Desert — setting off a decade-long chase to bring the perpetrators to justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Sitting quietly once you've made the house all shiny.

0:04.0

Down time can be just fine, playing bangers from the 90s.

0:08.0

Tea break.

0:09.0

Lunch break.

0:10.0

Maybe listen to the outbreak.

0:12.0

Sometimes it's not time for some tombola, right?

0:15.0

It's enjoying lasagna time, chilling with a book time, or time to visit your nan time go on play some other time put your phone down

0:23.8

tombole open for fun terms apply 18 plus gambleaware dot org this episode contains graphic descriptions that may not be

0:33.6

suitable for all listeners on the morning of of October 2nd, 2012, Steve Williams was driving through the desert on his way to work.

0:45.3

He was on Highway 14, a barren stretch of road, just north of Rosamond, California.

0:51.3

My shift hadn't quite started yet, or it was just about to start.

0:55.0

And it was a crisp, cool morning.

0:59.0

Steve Williams was a police sergeant in Kern County, about 100 miles north of L.A.

1:05.0

A third of Kern is covered by the Mojave Desert, an expanse of sun-bleached land, spindly Joshua trees,

1:13.5

and scrubby brush. It was early in the morning, around 7 a.m. I think there was just a little bit of

1:20.2

light cloud cover, and I remember that the sun, I don't think it had quite hit the horizon yet,

1:26.4

and so it was light light but not bright.

1:30.2

In the half light of dawn, something caught the sergeant's eye.

1:35.0

A figure standing by the side of the road.

1:39.3

It was a woman, mid-40s, blonde hair, yoga pants,

1:48.0

but something wasn't right. It was miles to the nearest town, and as he drove closer, Sergeant Williams noticed that she was barefoot and had a blindfold

1:55.3

pushed up on her forehead. I initially thought she was holding something behind her back because I could see

...

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