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old ladies out of their money. She spoke to Laura about it, told her there was something dead about Stanko’s eyes that gave her the chills. Laura said, “Mind your own business”—and she did.
    For Laura, Stanko was now a liability both at work and at home. He was spending her money faster than she could make it. She was a librarian, not an heiress, and on the verge of receiving an eviction notice. Something had to give. It was time she read Stanko the riot act.

BOILING OVER: APRIL 8, 2005
    Stephen Stanko’s own urge to kill, and kill again, boiled over on Friday, April 8, 2005, sometime after midnight. He’d completed his self-taught course in serial killers and he’d given himself a grade of A. Now, with his real job kaput, his obsession with murder blended with a growing rage. His rickety dam of self-control cracked, then gave way, releasing a torrent of turpitude.
    He stressed badly. He needed money. Being fired turned out to be a greater blow to his ego than he would have expected. Rejection of any kind pumped up Stanko’s pressure cooker.
    According to his story, Stanko and Laura Ling had an argument. She slapped him and a lit cigarette in his mouth flew between his glasses and his face, burning him.
    That was it. Mr. Hyde, come on down! Let the bondage begin. Stanko bound Ling’s wrists together behind her back. He was too jacked and did a sloppy job.
    BTK would have laughed.

    Stephen Stanko then turned his attention to Ling’s teenage daughter, who was in her room asleep in bed. When he entered her bedroom, he flicked on the lights. Penny woke up.
    Penny’s mind tried to register what she was seeing. At first, it simply didn’t compute. Stephen was in her room, with a knife in his hand. He’d gotten home about nine o’clock that night and everything was normal. She’d gone to sleep at about eleven-fifteen, and all was still peaceful. Now it was an hour and a quarter later, and Stephen was next to her bed with a knife in his hand. At first, he just stared at her, and she hoped it was a dream. It didn’t register. Maybe he had secretly called a fire drill or something.
    After a couple of seconds, Stanko said, “Scream, and I will kill you both.”
    He was referring to her mom. Mom was in trouble. She had to get to her. Stanko produced more neckties and was about to bind her wrists at the small of her back when she wriggled free.
    Penny ran down the hall and looked in her mother’s room. Mom was on the bed, moaning and kicking.
    That was the last thing the daughter remembered for a while, as Stanko hit her over the head with a blunt object and knocked her out. When she woke up, she saw him beating her mother. The punches became frenzied. Stanko dished out a vicious beating that continued until his hand was bleeding and he couldn’t punch anymore.
    Stanko refocused his attention on Penny. He ripped off Penny’s clothes and got on top of her. She tried to struggle, but there would be no more escaping.
    The blow to the head sapped her will and he was too strong. She felt the blade of the knife upon her neck. As she was raped, she heard her mother beside them moaning.
    When the act was complete, he positioned the daughter so she could watch as he returned his attention to Laura Ling. Stanko still kept his weight on Penny so she couldn’t move. He flipped Laura onto her stomach and, with Penny watching in horror, choked Laura until she was dead. She fought hard. She heard her mother making choking noises. Then the noises stopped, and that was it.
    Penny forced herself to look away. She closed her eyes really tight and tried to make it go away. She didn’t want this to be the last image she had of her mom.
    She tried to replace the nightmare with pleasant memories of her mom. How beautiful she was—how smart and funny. She was a warm and inviting person, the kind of person everyone wanted to be friends with. She was—oh God, now she was gone .
    At some point, he pushed Laura off the bed and she lay