A 64-year-old woman took the intriguing step of giving up her marriage and stable life with two children to fall in love with a man 21 years younger. The detail is that the lover is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. The case became a book and ended in his own prison after helping the prisoner escape from prison.
Washington, USA resident Toby Dorr felt his life was boring and in need of change. However, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which led to a desire to take a new path.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Sun, he detailed his drama and the need for adventure that led him to fall in love with her and help her escape the detention centre. Today, Dorr is already married to a third person, but still has a crush on the man convicted of murder.
“My life was very monotonous in 2004,” recalls Toby Dorr, 64, who lives in Washington (USA).
“I’ve been married for 26 years. After our two children, aged 20 and 24, moved, we had nothing in common. I wanted to follow my passion. I’ve always loved animals, so I decided to start a dog rescue group. , train abandoned puppies and find them new homes. “.
working in prison
Toby was called upon to participate in a dog training project at a Kansas prison that would enlist the support of inmates for animal training. It was important to him not what crimes they committed, but how they looked after the dogs. After seven weeks of volunteer work, he met an inmate who was upsetting him.
“John was tall and had red hair, but what really impressed me was his confidence. He said I needed him to be my next dog sitter. His bold talk really caught my attention. I was intrigued with the other inmates and there was a connection from the beginning,” she said.
After a year in prison, Toby and John became very close and developed a friendship. When John learned that his father had cancer and the man protected him from another inmate’s attack, he was touched by the kindness he received. This created a passion between them.
“It was like an electric shock. The attraction I felt was huge. I couldn’t get John out of my mind that night. The next day, as we were walking together, he said, ‘I think I’m in love with you.’ I felt like we were the only two people in the world. Yes, I was married. But that love was long gone. It was incredible when we finally got our first kiss two months later.”
prison escape
Toby was even more surprised when John asked him to help her escape so they could be together. The woman at first refused to commit the crime and claimed that it was insanity. But John had it all planned out and said he could get her out of the complex by hiding in a van.
“‘Oh my God, this could work!’ I thought. I was so drunk with love that I would have done anything. Logic flew out the window.”
In February 2006, the old woman withdrew her retirement money, rented a van under a pseudonym, and managed to get her lover out of jail. He took her to a rented cabin where they hid in the mountains of Tennessee. But to Toby, the whole crime escape scenario felt like a romance movie.
“Many women have crazy fantasies. That was mine and I was really doing it. It was so intoxicating that I didn’t think about my husband or my kids,” she said. “Sex was so passionate that we couldn’t get enough of each other. But the pressure of escaping made us all nervous. We wore wigs for the movies and dinner, but we couldn’t get comfortable.”
The romantic atmosphere did not last long, twelve days after their escape, the couple was spotted by the police and a chase ensued. Despite the efforts, John and Toby were caught and sentenced to prison. While the old woman was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, she was sentenced to another ten years.
“My previous life is over. My kids and husband don’t talk to me. My decision to divorce came the day before my sentence began. But all their support was my wonderful family.”
Toby was released from prison in 2008. She restarted her life as a web designer and met Chris, whom she would later marry. The woman also decided to turn her memories into a book and wrote the book “Living By Conviction” (“Living By Conviction”, free translation) published in June 2022.
In 2016, with the support of her new husband, she finally mustered up the courage to visit John in prison.
“Holding John that day had so much healing power. I still cared about him and wanted to know if he was okay. I broke up much lighter. Now we email as friends. Now I don’t know the sad, unhappy woman who helped. John escaped from prison. But don’t be ashamed. I refuse, because everything I’ve done, good and bad, has made me the woman I am today.”
source: Noticias
