Inside the Toy Box: The David Parker Ray Story

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,960
It's 1999 in truth or consequences New Mexico.

2
00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:09,720
A town whose name sounds like a bad game show, but has a darker reality.

3
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:14,800
A naked, bloody woman runs down the street, chased by a man with a gun.

4
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,320
That man isn't just a skinny guy.

5
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:22,480
He's built a torture chamber in a trailer he calls the toy box.

6
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:27,600
Today we're diving into how one small town became the stage for one of the most twisted

7
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,600
crimes you've probably have never heard of.

8
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,240
Stick around, this one's as messed up as it sounds.

9
00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,360
Before we jump in, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable, you're exactly

10
00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:39,600
where you need to be.

11
00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,160
Hit follow now for at least two new episodes every week.

12
00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:44,960
This is 10 Minute Murder.

13
00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:45,480
Let's get into it.

14
00:00:45,480 --> 00:01:09,480
.

15
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,280
Spring 1999.

16
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,360
A woman bolts down a dusty road in truth or consequences New Mexico.

17
00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,840
If that name sounds like a bad joke, you're not far off.

18
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,480
This place is famous for two things.

19
00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,920
Meth labs and folks barely scraping by.

20
00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:32,200
Now a woman running in that town is not exactly headline material, but this one, she is naked

21
00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,240
and smeared with blood.

22
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:39,360
That is when a motorist pulls over, rolls down the window just enough and gets told, panicked

23
00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,800
and breathless, that a man with a gun is chasing her.

24
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,320
The street is empty.

25
00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:48,440
Tension thick enough to cut with a knife so the driver floors it.

26
00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,480
Not exactly a hero of the day moment, but who can blame them.

27
00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:58,440
The woman, desperate and still on the run, crashes into a nearby house where the elderly couple

28
00:01:58,440 --> 00:01:59,960
there listens.

29
00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:01,920
This time they don't ask questions.

30
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,400
They just want to know who is after her.

31
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,840
Enter David Parker Ray.

32
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,080
New Mexico born and raised, farm boy turned nightmare.

33
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,960
His parents split early and his mom, strapped for cash, took the kids back to live with her

34
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,160
strict parents, known for handing out punishments like candy.

35
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,880
But David's real teacher was not grandma or grandpa.

36
00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:25,560
It was his father.

37
00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,400
Cecil Leland Ray was hardly a constant presence in David's life.

38
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:35,640
When he showed up with family farm, it was usually in a drunken, incoherent state.

39
00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,760
When he managed to speak, it wasn't with kindness or encouragement.

40
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:45,400
Instead, Cecil pulled out his collection of explicit materials and urged David to go after

41
00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:46,680
girls.

42
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,200
For David, it wasn't an easy task.

43
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,160
He struggled with girls at school and often became a target for bullying because of it.

44
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,920
Things changed when he became a teenager, but not for the better.

45
00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:04,840
According to David's very own words, he started simply taking what he wanted, if you understand

46
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:05,840
what I'm saying.

47
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,280
I'm not going to read the quote here, but if you go to 10minutemurder.com, click on the

48
00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:10,360
murder blog.

49
00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,920
You can read exactly what he said about that.

50
00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:17,520
It was a pretty bold statement and one that was near impossible to cooperate.

51
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,640
But it did later come to light that David's younger sister had found his stash of hand-drawn

52
00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:24,760
Sadomacochistic fantasies.

53
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,640
Where David depicted himself assaulting women.

54
00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:32,480
He'd allegedly create these drawings when he was just 14 years old.

55
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,080
Whether or not David started attacking women as a teenager is unclear.

56
00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:41,320
What we do know is that he graduated high school and then joined the United States Army as

57
00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:42,760
a mechanic.

58
00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,720
That gave him a technical skill set to rely on after his service.

59
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,760
When he left the army, David moved to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where he worked

60
00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,960
as a maintenance man for the Parks Department.

61
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,080
Truth or Consequences turned out to be the perfect place for someone just like him.

62
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:04,320
The locals were often tough and kept to themselves, but there was a steady flow of transients passing

63
00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:05,560
through.

64
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,240
People looking for their next fix or trying to make money however they could.

65
00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,480
David didn't need to chase victims.

66
00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:17,240
All he had to do was hang out at one of the local bars and vulnerable women would come to

67
00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:18,560
him.

68
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:25,000
Once David had vulnerable women, often transients with no one checking in on them, in his grasp,

69
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,320
he took them to what he called his toy box.

70
00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,800
This was a trailer on his property, hidden in plain sight but soundproofed and outfitted

71
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:38,440
with custom made equipment designed for his twisted purposes.

72
00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,280
Whips, chains, and other cruel devices filled the space.

73
00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:50,200
David reportedly spent around $100,000 on tools and gadgets to carry out his brutal acts.

74
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:55,720
It was the mind games, he later said, his favorite part of the mental and emotional torture.

75
00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:01,480
He would often warn his victims about what was coming, but preferred they see it for themselves.

76
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,360
Above the custom chair, where he strapped them down, David installed large mirrors on the

77
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,080
trailer's ceiling.

78
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,480
He took what he wanted from these women.

79
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,960
When he was finished, he would bring in a group of trusted friends.

80
00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,760
After they were done, he would let his dogs in.

81
00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:23,600
David claimed he often used drugs, specifically barbituates, to cause amnesia in his victims

82
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,320
before leaving them on the side of the road.

83
00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,480
Some women didn't realize what had happened until much later on in life.

84
00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,920
Others remembered immediately, but because of their lifestyle and the effects of the drugs,

85
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,520
no one was really willing to listen to them.

86
00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:42,480
He confessed to telling the women he planned to torture them and then used drugs to erase

87
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,880
their memories so they wouldn't be able to report him.

88
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,520
Another unsettling truth was David's network of accomplices.

89
00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:55,320
He often used the women in his life, including wives, girlfriends, and even his own daughter

90
00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,960
as a cover to seem less dangerous.

91
00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,320
But behind the scenes, he had trained these women to obey his orders without question.

92
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,020
One of the most active partners was Cindy Hindi.

93
00:06:07,020 --> 00:06:11,800
She worked alongside him in the Parks Department and shared a disturbing interest in violent

94
00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:13,120
acts.

95
00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:18,200
Throughout David's toy box, tapes played constantly for his victims, making it clear that they

96
00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,720
would also have to submit to Cindy as well.

97
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,480
Cynthia Virgil knows this nightmare all too well.

98
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,800
Never get into an RV was one of her rules when working the streets, but when times got tough

99
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,080
she had little choice.

100
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,120
One day a man in an RV pulled over in Albuquerque.

101
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:42,120
Cynthia negotiated with him, but the moment she stepped inside something felt off.

102
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:48,000
When she tried to leave the man shouted, "Cindy, a name dangerously close to her own."

103
00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,920
That wasn't for her, though.

104
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,680
Cindy Hindi was hiding in the back of the RV.

105
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:57,680
She appeared, struck Cynthia with a cattle prod, and a fight broke out.

106
00:06:57,680 --> 00:06:59,520
Cynthia was knocked unconscious.

107
00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,760
When she woke up, she was locked inside David's trailer, listening to one of his tapes.

108
00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,920
"Okay, we both know why you're here," David's voice said.

109
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,880
"Your wrists and ankles are chained, and you're gagged because you're not going to like the

110
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:13,960
way I do it."

111
00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:19,560
Cynthia endured three days inside the toy box before sensing a chance to escape.

112
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,480
David had gone to work, leaving Cindy in charge, but Cindy made one critical mistake that

113
00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,960
would change everything.

114
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:31,480
She left the keys to the padlock within Cynthia's reach.

115
00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:37,040
Seizing the chance, Cynthia began unlocking the restraints when Cindy suddenly returned.

116
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,360
Panicked, Cindy grabbed the lamp and started striking Cynthia with it.

117
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,600
In the chaos, Cynthia managed to free herself, grab an ice pick, and stab Cindy in the neck.

118
00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,280
She then broke out of the trailer, running down the street, still wearing the slave collar

119
00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,160
David had forced on her.

120
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,000
She flagged down the motorist I mentioned in the beginning of the story, but ended up running

121
00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,760
straight into the arms of an elderly couple.

122
00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:03,680
They clothed her, called the police, and promised they wouldn't send her back to the man

123
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,240
who had abused her.

124
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:10,640
Cynthia's brave escape led to the arrests of David Parker Ray and Cindy Hindi.

125
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,280
The story was backed up by tape recordings, piles of physical evidence from inside the trailer,

126
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,960
and the testimonies of other survivors who came forward after hearing the news.

127
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,000
David claimed the women who survived were the lucky ones.

128
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:29,320
He said he kidnapped four to five women every year, holding them for months while deciding

129
00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,120
if they would cause trouble.

130
00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,360
If he thought they would, they were dealt with permanently.

131
00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,720
Investigators estimate David's victim count at around 60.

132
00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:44,040
No remains were ever found, but David and Cindy gave a chilling explanation.

133
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:49,240
On trial for the abduction and torture of Cynthia and another victim, David described how he

134
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,240
killed and dismembered others.

135
00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:56,120
He said he removed their chest cavities, filled them with cement, and dumped them in nearby

136
00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:57,120
lakes.

137
00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:03,080
Their intros, he claimed, were placed in bags and sunk alongside their bodies.

138
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,920
Cindy struggled to confirm David's claims.

139
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,840
When he was sentenced to 223 years in prison, they figured there was time to dig into his statements

140
00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:14,200
deeper and find the truth.

141
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,960
The plan fell short when David died of a heart attack before the state police could question

142
00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,480
him further.

143
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:26,000
Left only with his earlier confessions, a detailed diary, kept about his victims, and Cindy

144
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,800
Hindi's testimony, investigators faced a frustrating dead end.

145
00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:36,000
Cindy said David disposed of human remains in elephant-butte lake, but even she didn't

146
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,560
know the exact locations.

147
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:43,160
The lake is vast and deep, making a thorough search nearly impossible.

148
00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:48,600
Still, a local fisherman once called a burlap sack on his line, filled with what he described

149
00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,800
as animal flesh.

150
00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,440
Just looking at it made you feel strange, the fisherman said, the bag had been split,

151
00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,880
and this material was coming out.

152
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:03,480
Today, it's believed that the fisherman accidentally found one of the victims of David Parker

153
00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:16,120
Ray, known to some as the toolbox killer.

154
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,960
Thanks for listening to 10 Minute Murder, Brief and Bingeable True Crime.

155
00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:27,000
I'm Joe, I'm the host, your unofficial tour guide through the dark corners of humanity.

156
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,760
If you've got thoughts about the podcast, let me know.

157
00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:35,040
Maybe you just want to rant, that's cool to shoot me an email, joe@10minutemurder.com,

158
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:36,560
but a fair warning.

159
00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:39,440
Don't bring your hateration into this dance-ery.

160
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,960
Keep it respectful and we're going to get along just fine.

161
00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,840
Which by the way, most of you do.

162
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,240
Almost every single person that sends me a message, y'all are super cool.

163
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:53,840
Occasionally, I get a message, and 100% of the time, it's a boomer white man.

164
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,440
Tells me my podcast has gone woke.

165
00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:02,920
Because apparently, I openly and willingly discuss racial issues, crimes against the LGBTQ

166
00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,880
plus community, and I respect pronouns.

167
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,320
All of that gets a certain hateful group fired up, telling me they aren't going to listen

168
00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:10,320
anymore.

169
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,760
Am I response to that as always the same?

170
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:13,760
Good.

171
00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,400
If you're a bigot and a racist, don't listen.

172
00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:17,400
This isn't for you.

173
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,160
You aren't going to be satisfied here.

174
00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:23,800
Anyway, make sure if you aren't a bigot, you subscribe so that you never miss another

175
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,760
episode of the podcast.

176
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:30,160
Follow me on socials for behind the scenes stuff, random true crying facts, and a whole lot

177
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,160
more.

178
00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:36,560
If you want to dive deeper or binge the backlog, head over to 10minuteMurder.com.

179
00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:37,560
Thanks for listening.

180
00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:39,240
I'll see you next time.

181
00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:39,840
Seacrest out.

182
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:49,840
[Music]