This story discusses suicide.
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story → discuss → suicide
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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you → know → 988
For years, Bonnie Lou Gower shared a bed with a man she thought she knew better than anyone.
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she → share → anyone
She had no idea the man sleeping beside her was capable of murder.
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man → have → murder
Her husband, Richard "Marc" Evonitz, was leading a double life, one that would ultimately expose him as a serial killer who preyed on young girls.
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who → lead → girls
His victims included a 16-year-old who lost her life while Evonitz was still married to Gower.
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Evonitz → include → Gower
Decades after Evonitz’s crimes came to light, Gower is revisiting the warning signs she didn't recognize — alongside the young woman who survived him.
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who → come → him
In Investigation Discovery’s true crime docuseries "The Serial Killer Connection," Gower meets with Kara Robinson Chamberlain, who endured 18 hours of captivity and torture before escaping Evonitz, as they investigate whether he may be linked to other unsolved cases.
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he → meet → cases
For Gower, one question has followed her since learning the truth about the man she married.
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she → follow → man
"When I initially learned about [his crimes] and I told people, honestly their first response is, ‘Well, obviously you knew.
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you → learn → people
How could you not have known?’" Gower told Fox News Digital.
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Gower → know → Digital
‘How could I not know this?
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I → know → this
How could I not know I was sleeping next to somebody for eight and a half years that was doing this?’
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that → know → this
And of course, they assured me that there’s no way I could have known."
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I → assure → me
Looking back, Gower admitted there were things she didn’t question at the time.
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she → look → time
Whenever she left town to visit family, Evonitz insisted on staying behind, claiming he had to work.
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he → leave → family
Only later did Gower discover that he had actually taken time off while she was away.
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she → discover → time
"One of the reasons he never came with me was because he said he was working," said Gower.
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Gower → come → me
"And then, I come to find out, he had actually taken off work on the days that I was out of town.
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I → come → town
But at the time, I wasn’t at all concerned about leaving him behind.
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I → leave → him
I was just going and visiting my family.
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I → go → family
It definitely makes you look at everybody and everything now, whether you can trust someone’s words or actions.
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you → make → words
Gower met Evonitz, who was eight years her senior, in South Carolina.
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who → meet → Carolina
He was the older brother of one of her friends and would come home whenever he was on leave from the U.S. Navy.
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he → come → Navy
She quickly developed a crush on him as she got to know him and, at age 16, Evonitz asked her out on a date.
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Evonitz → develop → date
They married in August 1988 when she was 17 and he was 25.
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he → marry → August
"You think you know who you are when you’re 17, but I really don’t think I did," said Gower.
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Gower → think → ?
"I don’t think I had a handle on that.
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I → think → that
I was very naïve, very trusting, taking everything at face value.
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I → take → value
I think he knew that.
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he → think → that
During the marriage, there were moments when Gower suspected Evonitz was being unfaithful.
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Evonitz → be → marriage
Whenever she questioned him, Evonitz told her it was all in her head.
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it → question → head
She believed him.
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She → believe → him
But as the relationship progressed, Evonitz began isolating her from friends and family as they moved around the country, from Maine to San Diego to Virginia.
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they → progress → Virginia
"No one ever thinks that their significant other is going to be a serial killer," Chamberlain told Fox News Digital.
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Chamberlain → think → Digital
"I think worst case, and this is something that she expressed to me, he was having an affair.
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he → think → affair
No one ever thinks your spouse is out murdering someone."
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spouse → think → someone
"He kept that part of himself very tightly controlled and didn’t show it to the people he was closest to."
The marriage began to unravel after Evonitz left the Navy.
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Evonitz → keep → Navy
Gower said financial pressures fueled growing tensions between the couple, while Evonitz became prone to mood swings and what she described as "rages."
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she → say → rages
He also frequently criticized her weight.
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He → criticize → weight
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
