Debra begins her story in April 1998, on the Monday afternoon she decided to plant roses outside her house before leaving to work the night shift at the hospice. Her roses planted, Sharp headed through the garage and into the kitchen, where she recalls someone hitting her hard, her glasses fell off, and she fell to the floor. The next moment her assailant took her to the basement, raped her, held a knife to her throat, tied her up, wrapped her in a quilt, and carried her to his car. Subjected to being gagged, blindfolded, and hogtied, Debra managed to keep her mind on finding a way out. On Tuesday evening, when her attacker switched on the radio, Sharp learned that Nino, her husband of 25 years, was dead and she was a suspect. Debra also learned later that her chances of being found after a few days were slim to none. It was at this moment that Debra knew she would have to save herself if she ever wanted to see her children again and see her husband one last time before he was buried. During Debra’s captivity Flagg mentally and physically abused her. He continued to rape her randomly and continued to take heavy drugs. The drugs that Flagg were taking made him very paranoid, so paranoid that he fired two shots through his living room window. Debra was constantly tied up and was given food every so often. She tried to establish a relationship with Flagg; this was her only shot of preventing him form killing her. She believed that if she made him like her then maybe he would let her go. For the time she spent in his captivity she was very compliant and did everything he asked. The healing process for Debra was obviously not easy. It is hard to recover from such traumatic experiences such as these. Through writing this book and talking about her encounter, Debra has been able to cope with the incident. Debra has talked in many environments about her story. She has told her story many times and through telling her story feels she has become a stronger person being able to talk about such a touchy subject for some. Healing comes with time, and over time wounds can heal. Although Debra will never be the same again, she can still live a normal life again and move forward to a survivor rather then a victim.
Flagg was charged with eighteen-felony counts
for rape and murder, with
special circumstances that could lead to the death penalty. He asks
for and receives a public defender. Debra wants Flagg to receive the death penalty and
will be satisfied with nothing else; her daughter feels the same,
as does her father and brother. Her
son, however, takes the position that the death penalty is itself a
cruel and unusual punishment. The son attends only half of the
opening