In this episode, I’m talking with Nicole-Earnest-Payte raped at gunpoint by a man who threatened to kill her. She knew at that point; she wasn’t getting out of this.
Here is how Nicole told us her story.
On June 22, 1991, 21-year-old Nicole Earnest-Payte was awakened on her couch by a man in a ski mask carrying a handgun about 8:30 at night after falling asleep on a couch in her home. He put his arm around her neck and throat to control her, while holding a gun at her head, held her hands behind her back as he forced her up from the couch, partially disrobed, all while continuing to hold a gun to head, telling her that he was only there to rob her and to stay quiet. Still masked, behind her with a gun still at her head, he then led her upstairs to her bedroom, put her face down on her bed, hog-tied her hands and feet together, duct-taped her eyes and mouth, and tied a pillowcase around her head. He then left her on the bed while he went downstairs to go through her personal belongings that he ultimately stole from her. He came back with a boom box. He turned it to a station that played love songs and told her these are our songs; these are our love songs. Nicole never saw her attacker’s face because he wore a ski mask and taped over her eyes.
Then, he turned the radio on. Nicole said, “At that point, he had only been looking through my belongings and asking for money, But at some point, he turned me over on my back and I started shaking because I knew what was about to happen…. I was shaking and started to cry. He said, ‘Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be as bad as you think.’” Nicole knew at that point she was not getting out of this. While raping Nicole multiple times throughout the course of several hours, Nicole’s attacker threatened multiple times to kill her that night. I felt terrified for my life, couldn’t believe what was happening, Nicole said , “I tried to think of ways to get away. “I knew there was no way I could get out of this. I was absolutely terrified. I just wanted him to get out of my house, and I thought if I don’t fight him maybe he’ll leave.” The man told her he had been watching her for a week. After the first time he raped her, he began kissing her all over her body.
He knew details of her personal life: how tall her ex-boyfriend was, where she worked, that she typically left her sliding glass door unlocked during the day while she was at work, generally locking it at night when she was in the house. At some point, he started to apologize while laying kind of next to her. He said, ‘I’m sorry for doing this. I’ve never done this before and I’ll never do it again, I promise.’” The attacker finally left her home at about 2:30 a.m., after taking her ATM card and PIN and tying her hands in front of her with duct tape. Then he gave her a butter knife to cut the tape and strict instructions. “He instructed her to wait for three songs on the radio and cut herself free. Don’t call the police or I will know, and I will come back and kill you before they come.’ Then, as he left, the attacker said something “mockingly, ‘You should lock your doors from now on. Someone might come in and try to hurt you. ’After the three songs had played, she cut herself loose, got dressed, and grabbed a clothes iron as a weapon because she feared he was still there. Even after finding no one inside the home, she was still too terrified to call the police. She called her mother in Tiburon. She said ‘Mom, I just was raped at gunpoint in my house by a masked man, I need you to get here,’” Her mom told her to hang up and call the police. Nicole, too terrified to call police, truly believed he had access to a scanner.” Within minutes her mother showed up with Rohnert Park police with her as she passed them making a traffic stop in Rohnert Park near Nicole’s home.
After 27 years of believing he would never be caught and punished here's what happened.