The Toy Box Killer is meticulously named David Parker Ray, a serial killer suspect whose sadistic fantasies of power are said to have gotten the best of him. Ray is believed to have kidnapped, raped, mutilated, and killed about 40 unsuspecting victims since he was a teenager and for most of his life.
Not only did he do unimaginable and traumatizing torture on his victims, he became a fascinating subject because he thoroughly hid all evidence and got away with his crimes for years. Learn about the mind and life of a criminal believed to have possibly outmaneuvered the authorities.
David Parker Ray Biography and Childhood
David Parker Ray is from Belen and was born in 1939 in New Mexico. The older of two siblings, David and his sister were raised by their grandparents (mainly grandfather) because they had an alcoholic and abusive father.
He was a shy teenager who abused alcohol and drugs. During this time he began to feed his mind with perverse fascination from his father’s sadomasochistic porn magazines. He later made a career as a mechanic, but that was after a stint in the US Army.
family life
Given his depraved sexual records, it wouldn’t be a surprise to know that David Parker Ray failed in his married life. He was married to four women at different times, but each of his marriages was short-lived and ended in divorce. He had two daughters, one of whom later became his accomplice in carrying out his crimes.
David’s crime
The exact number of his victims remains, however, it is believed that David kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed several women since he was young. David considered himself the jailer for a chapter of the Church of Satan and carried out his carefully considered fantasies in his trailer, nicknamed “The Toy Box”, which was filled with sex toys and tools of torture. He devised humble methods to carry out his actions, including posing as a police officer and forcing his victim to enter his car to tamper with women’s drinks.
But Ray didn’t work alone, he had a number of accomplices including his daughter Glenda and his friend Cindy Hendy, all of whom were said to be members of the Church of Satan. In the toy box, his victims are drugged, strapped to a chair, and brutally raped. It is also believed that those who resisted or became too lively were sometimes mutilated and even murdered.
But the serial killer’s actions were exposed in March 1999, Cynthia Vigil Jaramillo, a Colorado lady who would go on to become the last known victim of David Parker Ray, fled naked with a dog collar and chain from his trailer home in Elephant Butte.
As a result, Ray and Hendy were arrested after Jaramillo, who has been the serial killer’s prisoner for three days, alerted the neighbors and the authorities. In 1999, following Jaramillo’s escape, the police began investigating Ray.
Under pressure from investigators, Hendy cracked and quickly spilled the beans after accepting a bargain. Not only did she help with the names of other accomplices, including Ray’s daughter Glenda and his associate Dennis Roy Yancy, but she also provided testimony against him during the trial. Some of Hendy’s claims suggest that Ray may have murdered as many as 40 women and also claims that she was a witness when he dumped his victims’ bodies at multiple locations.
Originally charged with 37 counts with three women, including Jaramillo, Ray was found guilty of his kidnapping and rape and sentenced to 224 years. As part of a plea deal, the third case against him was dropped. For her active participation in Ray’s heinous crimes, Hendy was charged with kidnapping and rape and sentenced to 36 years in accordance with the plea.
Ray’s daughter Glenda wasn’t left out of the film Wrath of the Law, as she was also sentenced to nine years in prison for helping her father lift up and torture sex slaves. However, she had the option to serve six of those years on probation. Dennis Roy Yancy, who confessed to torturing and killing his ex-girlfriend with Ray’s help, was eventually found guilty of two counts of murder. Second degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He was sentenced to 15 years for each charge.
On May 28, 2002, within 12 months of his serving time, Ray was sentenced to 224 years in prison and died of natural causes – a heart attack while being taken to a correctional facility for police questioning. After Ray’s death, investigators searched his property and the area for possible additional evidence and remains of his victims. Although they discovered several torture devices in his toy box, such as whips, chains and handcuffs, and other female items including jewelry and clothing, no bodies were found.
For over a decade, agents have searched the area based on suspicions and Ray’s claims that he may have kidnapped and killed several unidentified victims, but so far nothing has been found.
If Ray’s diaries and testimonies from his court hearings suggest dehumanizing his victims’ abuse is inevitable, then David Parker likely got away with murder. Given that Ray was viewed by psychologists as a sadist with brain defects, it remains uncertain whether his notes were mere fantasies or actual crimes.