I Outwitted a Serial Killer

Kara Robinson Chamberlain was just 15 years old when she was abducted and held captive, but her quick thinking helped her free herself and led to the arrest of a murderer

- By Lesego Mkhize

THE day her life changed began uneventfully enough. It was a warm afternoon and she and a friend planned a to spend it at a nearby lake, soaking up the sun and lazing on the banks.

Before they left the house, however, the mom of Kara Robinson Chamberlain's friend asked the girls to water her garden.

Kara, then 15, said she'd do it while her friend took a quick shower. Which is what she was doing when a man pulled up in the driveway. He seemed friendly enough and had some pamphlets in his hand she presumed he wanted to tell her about.

Before she knew it, he'd pulled out a gun, pressed it to her neck and forced her into a large storage bin on the backseat of his car.

“My survival mechanism kicked in.” Kara says.

“I knew I had to get as much information about him and my surroundings so that I could escape and identify him” And that's exactly what she did - but not before she was tied up and sexually assaulted for 18 hours.

Richard Evonitz, Kara's abductor. She gave the police vital information that led them to him.

Incredibly, Kara kept her cool and managed to free herself, fleeing and going to the police where she gave officers crucial information that helped them identify her abductor as Richard Evonitz, a serial killer and rapist who'd already murdered three girls.

His first victim, Sofia Silva (16), was taken from the front steps of her home in Virginia in the US. A few months later he snatched sisters Kristin (15) and Kati Lisk (12) in front of their house.