This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all ages.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.

Call or text 988 or chat with someone at 988 lifeline.org. Those outside of the U.S. reach out to someone at your local

crisis center or hotline. Please do not suffer in silence.

A lone streetlight cast an icy glow on a nearly empty Anchorage Street in the winter

of 1971.

Under that dim light, a young woman shivers, not just from the cold, but from fear.

Moments ago, she thought she was getting into a polite stranger's car for a paid encounter, a routine

transaction on a frigid December night. Now her reality has shifted into something of a nightmare.

The driver, a wiry, bespectacled man with acne-scarred cheeks, presses the muzzle of a handgun against

her temple. His voice stutters as he issues low halting commands, but

the threat in his tone is unmistakable. In a desolate gravel pullout beyond the city lights,

Robert Hansen forces her from the vehicle. Her breath's puff and clouds of mist as she pleads

for her life. Hansen's demeanor is eerily calm, almost detached, as he

ties her wrist. The only sounds are the crunch of hard snow under his boots and her own sobs

hanging in the Alaskan air. The man who appeared so unassuming just moments ago, now has eyes

cold with predatory excitement. In that isolated spot, Hansen sexually assaults this young

woman, a brutal rape that leaves the 18-year-old sex worker terrified and in pain. When he's

finished, Hansen's grip on the pistol tightens. He leans in close, his voice dripping with contempt,

and mutters that no one will believe her over a family man like

him. For a moment, this young woman believes Hansen is about to pull the trigger. Instead,

...