Christmas Terror: The Neighbor’s Obsession

A family in Minnesota gathered for Christmas dinner in 1996 when the doorbell rang. Their teenage daughter

answered and found a gift wrapped box on the porch. Inside was a severed hand wearing her

mother's wedding ring. Police traced it to the neighbor who had been secretly

obsessed with the mom for years. He kidnapped her while she was Christmas shopping,

kept her in his basement for three days, and planned to frame her husband.

She escaped by pretending to go along with his delusion, convinced him to untie her to wrap

presents together, then fought back with scissors. The hand was actually a mannequin part

he planted to terrorize them first. He's serving life without parole and still sends the