A teenager survives a vicious attack by an ex-boyfriend. Years later she faces him in court after he murders a young mother. Anne-Marie Green reports. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Cece Opanowski and what happened to her in 1996?
So we had a report that a fisherman had been going by. He saw what he thought to be a toolbox that goes in the back of a pickup truck floating.
What did investigators find inside that toolbox?
They found a woman's body that was duct taped and handcuffed and wrapped in a comforter. It was terrible. It was a terrible thing to see.
In January of 1996, I just finished my first semester of college in upstate New York. My ex-boyfriend, Sean Doyle, and I had been broken up for approximately four months. My name is Cece Opanowski. My mother was going away for the weekend, so I had this whole big house to myself. And my friend Shannon and I, we were very close. I said, well, let's stay at my house because there's no one around.
It was just a girls' night. We just wanted to chill out. You know, it's winter, it's cold, we built a fire. My parents had a great stereo system, so, you know, we put on some music and danced around and, you know, just did girl stuff.
We both went to Sage Junior College of Albany. I'm really introvert, and she was very bubbly and happy and chipper, and she just, she brought me out of my shell.
When you were first meeting her, was Sean Doyle around at the time? Yes. He was obnoxious. She would argue with him a lot on the phone. And then in January is when this incident happens at her house? Mm-hmm.
We were having a good time. It was just the two of us. But he keeps calling. Mm-hmm. Wanting to know what we were doing, wanting to know if he can come over. She had a cell phone, and I was like, just turn it off. Like, she's like, no, because if I turn it off, he's going to come here. We finally wake up, and all we wanted was coffee.
I had the mindset, I'm like, oh, I can't go out in public looking like I'm a mess. Let me go home and get dressed.
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Chapter 2: How did Sean Doyle's behavior change during his relationship with Cece?
You know, we just hung out all the time. Cece says Doyle had troubles at home. During his junior year, Doyle told her his parents kicked him out. So Cece begged her parents to let him move in with them. Did you feel sorry for him? Oh, definitely. Soon after he moved into Cece's family home, She says she saw a change in Doyle's behavior.
Cece says he became jealous and would secretly follow her around, something she says she didn't think at the time was a big deal.
When you're a 16, 17-year-old girl and, you know, you're looking at, oh, jealousy, you know, he must love me so much, and that's why he's doing this, or he followed me home, he's so worried about me. But is that really what the case is? When you look back as an adult and someone with experience, you know, you think that's probably not okay.
And Doyle showed even more possessive behavior that CeCe found troubling.
He at one point did get a tattoo. It was a heart on his arm and it had my name in the middle. What did you say? Why would you do that? And his response?
I love you. Was it a red flag? Definitely. During his senior year, Cece says Doyle dropped out of high school and was working odd jobs that he couldn't keep.
And this is where things start to get darker. You know, he doesn't have any prospects. He knows that I'm getting ready to go away to school. And to him, his whole life is about to completely change.
But Cece says she stuck by him, writing in her senior yearbook, I Love You, Sean. And in the summer of 1995, when she left to attend what is now Russell Sage College in Albany, they agreed to stay together and see each other on weekends. But at the end of September, things took a scary turn when Cece told Doyle she would not be coming home every weekend to see him. Doyle showed up at her dorm.
He stood outside, basically threatening that he was going to kill me. And now he's threatening not just you, but anyone around you. Basically anyone around me.
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Chapter 3: What was Cece's experience with the police after the attack?
They soon discovered a story tangled in obsession. Who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Follow and listen to Train to Kill, the dog trainer, the heiress, and the bodyguard on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Now streaming. Everyone who comes into this clinic is a mystery.
We don't know what we're looking for.
Their bodies are the scene of the crime. Their symptoms and history are clues.
You saved her life.
We're doctors and we're detectives.
I kind of love it, if I'm being honest.
Solve the puzzle, save the patient.
Watson. All episodes now streaming on Paramount+.
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Chapter 4: Who was Lori Leonard and how did Sean Doyle enter her life?
Soon after this incident, Lori ended her romantic relationship with Doyle. Lori told Jennifer they agreed to be just friends and that he was fine with it. And I was like, no, he's not.
Nope. People like that aren't just okay with being friends.
Despite the breakup, Doyle would still drive three hours from Hudson Falls to visit Lori, oftentimes hanging out at the bar where she waitressed late at night. Sean always called me and said, He'd call me to get advice. Dorothy Tucker lived down the street from Doyle in Hudson Falls and considered him a close friend.
I saw a sweet guy who would bend over backwards if I asked him to.
However, after the relationship with Lori ended, she says Doyle told her he had followed Lori and watched her as she went out on a date. I was like, Sean, you can't do that. She does not want to be with you.
Were you starting to get concerned about him and his behavior at that point? No, no, because he agreed with me. I didn't see the monster that he really was. He hid it quite well.
On Friday, April 29th, 2005, Lori, who was living with Jennifer, moved to a new rental apartment.
Usually people are miserable when they're moving. She was just happy.
Lori's nephew, Dustin De La Torre, who was 15 at the time, helped with the move.
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Chapter 5: What suspicious circumstances surrounded Lori Leonard's disappearance?
But before investigators could reach out to Doyle, Jennifer says she tracked down Doyle's number and called him herself.
Sean, have you talked to Lori? And he goes, no, I haven't talked to her in a couple of days. Wasn't she supposed to get tickets the other night? And I'm like, yeah, she was. We haven't heard from her since. I'm like, you know, if she calls you, let us know because... The phone's off, and he's like, oh yeah, definitely, you know.
When I hung up, I was like, I had chills, and I'm like, he's full of it. He knows something.
As the days went by, Cheninango investigators reached out to everyone who had contact with Lori Leonard prior to her disappearance, including the man she was supposed to get Yankees tickets from in Albany.
He was an executive for a company. We were able to track him down. He was interviewed.
Detective Wade Irwin says the executive waited for Lori in Albany, and when she never showed up, he called her and even left a message.
who was calling with concern of where she was. We're supposed to meet up. I got the tickets. I'm here. Are you okay? I hope an accident didn't happen.
His alibi checked out, but Lori's phone records would reveal a lot more about another person who hadn't called.
What became concerning for myself is the person that cared about her, supposedly.
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Chapter 6: How did investigators link Sean Doyle to Lori Leonard's case?
We would say things like, she got lost. You know, we'll get her. We'll find her.
To make matters worse, Austin and Zachary were now separated, staying with their fathers and only seeing each other on weekends.
We'd live together our whole lives. That was obviously different, you know, waking up every day with, one, your mom's not there, but two, now your brother isn't.
We were suffering. And every day, our family was doing something to find her. We were looking for her. We were a well-oiled machine.
Jennifer suspected Sean Doyle had something to do with her sister's disappearance. So weeks after Lori vanished, she headed to Hudson Falls and held a demonstration, hoping someone there would know something about Doyle that could help investigators.
We had posters. We had signs. We had Sean's name up on signs. If anybody will speak to us.
Dorothy Tucker says when she heard Lori's family was in town, she immediately called Doyle.
I was like, Sean, what's going on? You know, did you do something? I didn't do anything to her. She's probably off on a beach somewhere with some guy. But you believed Sean at the time? Oh, definitely.
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Chapter 7: What was Sean Doyle's explanation for Lori's disappearance?
Chapter 8: What is the significance of the 2009 Anacortes crime mentioned at the start?
In 2009, three days before Halloween, a grisly crime stunned the seaport town of Anacortes, Washington.
Mark was known as the dog whisperer of Anacortes.
They soon discovered a story tangled in obsession. Who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Follow and listen to Train to Kill, the dog trainer, the heiress, and the bodyguard on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Now streaming. Everyone who comes into this clinic is a mystery.
We don't know what we're looking for.
Their bodies are the scene of the crime. Their symptoms and history are clues.
You saved her life.
We're doctors and we're detectives.
I kind of love it, if I'm being honest.
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