Donna Ongsiako, left for dead, survived a violent home invasion: “There’s no earthly reason why I’m alive. None.”

Tiny Colts Neck, New Jersey, sits simply 50 miles from New York Metropolis. But it surely may as properly be a world away. In July 2013, this quiet group was rocked by information of a violent residence invasion the place the sufferer was stabbed repeatedly. The one factor extra stunning: the sufferer survived.

Donna Ongsiako: My title is Donna Ongsiako. … I misplaced in complete, shut to a few quarters of the blood in my physique. There is not any earthly cause why I am alive. None.

Jim Axelrod: If I had requested you on the time to present me a listing of 100 belongings you’re apprehensive about, the place would have residence invasion been?

Donna Ongsiako: Oh, no. By no means.

Donna labored for an organization that brokered gasoline for ships on the close by Jersey shore. She and her daughter Kiersten lived in a farmhouse on the sting of flower fields.

Kiersten Ongsiako: She was 20 when she had me. So, we’re solely 20 years and at some point aside.

Pal Sharon Sharpe employed Donna a long time in the past.

Jim Axelrod: Kiersten had simply been born?

Sharon Sharpe: Yeah, Kiersten was a child. … I believed she was actually courageous … being a single mother … very younger.

Kiersten Ongsiako: I used to be by her aspect on a regular basis.

Kiersten, who now works as a welder, recollects what life was like simply previous to her mom’s assault.

Kiersten Ongsiako: We had been going to the gymnasium a number of occasions every week. … Not solely was she, like, mentally robust, however she was bodily robust.

Sharon Sharpe: She was so match. She did Robust Mudders with Kiersten.

Donna Ongsiako: I like that competitors … I like to indicate power, bodily power …

Donna Ongsiako: Issues could not have been any higher at the moment.

That is when Saturday of July Fourth weekend rolled round. Monmouth County Detective Andrea Tozzi says they had been having a heatwave.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was … humid. … However we had no … rain or something like that. … I imply it was a dry evening.

Jim Axelrod: So, Donna — had her home windows open.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure. … She had her home windows open … simply to clearly to flow into air.

Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten was out at a celebration. … So, I used to be residence doing laundry. … I would say about 11:00, 11:30. I resolve … I will prepare for mattress. … I let the cat out. I went and brushed my tooth.

However simply as she was drifting off to sleep —

Donna Ongsiako: I heard what I believed was the cat. I heard one thing, and I remembered, oh, I forgot to let the cat in.

With out turning on any lights, Donna headed downstairs to open the entrance door for her cat.

Donna Ongsiako: However as a substitute, after I opened the door, I noticed somebody standing there. … Within the break up second … after seeing this particular person on my porch, I noticed the knife. … He was attempting to chop into the display of the window that was proper subsequent to the entrance door.

She says she did not acknowledge the younger white male standing proper in entrance of her, holding a big knife.

Donna Ongsiako: I attempted to slam and shut the door. … My fingers had been protruding out. He caught the knife by way of the opening and … minimize my finger in order that I instantly let go of the door. After which he pushed his approach in.[…]

Donna Ongsiako: I am backing into my kitchen. We’re nose to nose. … It did not register to me that he was truly going to stab me.

However with out a phrase, that is precisely what the stranger did.

Donna Ongsiako: He slashed my cheek. And you may see that right here. And truly, it begins again right here (factors to the best aspect of her face and ear). … There was no approach to course of that that occurred.

Donna’s attacker got here at her with the knife once more.

Donna Ongsiako: He then slashed 3 times on this aspect of my neck.

She tried grabbing the knife however solely minimize her personal hand within the course of.

Jim Axelrod: Did you’re feeling such as you had been coping with anyone who was actually robust?

Donna Ongsiako: No. However I felt like he was very positive, like he was very in charge of himself.

Donna was beginning to weaken from the accidents.

Donna Ongsiako: I felt like … my legs had been going to present out. … So, I braced myself in opposition to the nook of my rest room … proper subsequent to the entrance door.

Certain sufficient, she slid right down to the ground.

Donna Ongsiako: I used to be in fetal place … and I am bleeding. And he came to visit and … it was type of like he was taking part in, , with the knife and simply began jabbing at me. So, that is when he caught me right here (factors to a scar close to the left aspect of her mouth). Um, and he received me at the back of my neck right here (level to the again left aspect of her neck).

Lastly, Donna’s attacker spoke to her.

Donna Ongsiako: This was when he determined … to ask me for my automotive keys and if I had a lighter …

Jim Axelrod: A lighter?

Donna Ongsiako: I simply answered him. There is a lighter in my purse. And my purse was on the desk again within the kitchen. … So, he went over and was rummaging by way of my purse and received the keys, received the lighter.

Donna’s assailant ended up taking her complete purse with him, however not earlier than returning one final time to Donna, nonetheless bleeding on the ground.

Donna Ongsiako: He mentioned … “you lifeless bitch” and plunged the knife into my chest.

Jim Axelrod: As soon as he plunges the knife in after which removes it? What does he do then?

Donna Ongsiako: He simply walked out the door.

With no neighbors in ear shot, Donna knew she should get assist — someway.

Jim Axelrod: Your telephone is not in attain?

Donna Ongsiako: No, my telephone was upstairs in my bed room charging.

Donna had no landline in the home. However even because the blood was draining quickly from her physique, she had one urgent concern above her personal survival.

Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten may come residence and discover me. … I simply did not need her to must expertise … any degree of the horror that I had simply gone by way of or another ranges to find me there lifeless.

Jim Axelrod: So, it is a mom’s intuition as pure because it will get.

Donna Ongsiako: Sure, completely. Yeah.

Jim Axelrod: You already know it’s important to get upstairs in case you’re going to have the ability to make a name for assist.

Donna Ongsiako: Proper.

Jim Axelrod: How do you rise up these stairs?

Donna Ongsiako: That I do not know. … There was divine intervention that helped me up these stairs. Little question. Little question in my thoughts.

AN INSPIRED CLIMB

Laurie Gerhardt: She’s a tiny little girl. … It’s a must to think about … that many stab wounds. And he or she simply willed it. She was not going to die there.

Former Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says Donna Ongsiako was decided her daughter, Kiersten, wouldn’t come residence to search out her lifeless. She knew she needed to get to her cellphone upstairs.

Donna Ongsiako: I do not keep in mind … my ft or my fingers truly touching the steps. … The power that it took for me to rise up off the bottom and up these stairs. … I used to be undoubtedly guided.

Kiersten Ongsiako: The quantity of power that goes into that’s simply unimaginable.

Jim Axelrod: However the motivation was you.

Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah, yeah. Perhaps I used to be there guiding her in spirit.

As soon as Donna made it upstairs, she confronted a brand new problem after peering out her bed room window.

Jim Axelrod (exterior Donna’s home): She had a automotive sitting proper right here?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: She had a automotive sitting proper on this space.

Donna Ongsiako: I may nonetheless see the automotive was there and I may see the automotive was on and he was in it. … If I take my telephone off the charger, it should gentle up. … He will see the sunshine.

Afraid her attacker would come again for her, Donna did her finest to cover the sunshine of the telephone. Then, simply getting it to work turned the subsequent hurdle.

Donna Ongsiako: My fingers are coated in blood. My contact display … I used to be attempting to swipe and swipe. … I ended up having to … wipe my fingers off, wipe the telephone off, wipe it down … on the mattress. … After which I used to be capable of do the contact display and get by way of to 911.

DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: Uh, my title is Donna Ongsiako. I simply received stabbed actually unhealthy. …  Some child simply got here in and stabbed me. He stole my automotive.

911 OPERATOR: OK, OK, OK. Simply keep on the telephone with me, OK? The place did you get stabbed?

DONNA ONGSIAKO: Within the neck. Blood is gushing out. And within the chest.

Detective Andrea Tozzi says Donna’s potential to position that decision regardless of her accidents was wonderful, however then Donna did one thing much more extraordinary. She gave an in depth description of her attacker.

911 OPERATOR:  OK. Have you learnt what he seemed like?

DONNA ONGSIAKO: Yeah, he was most likely about 17. White, actual skinny, curly hair. Blonde, soiled blonde hair. … Backpack.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was fairly chilling to … hearken to Donna and be capable of hear her precisely … discuss “that is what occurred. That is what he seems like.”

DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: I am dropping consciousness.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: After which hear her fade out.

911 OPERATOR: Donna? Donna? Whats up, Donna? Donna?

DONNA ONGSIAKO: Sure, ma’am. … I feel I simply handed out for a minute.

Police and paramedics arrived lower than eight minutes after Donna dialed 911, however her attacker had already fled. Donna was rushed to Jersey Shore College Medical Heart and into trauma surgical procedure. It could be a couple of extra hours earlier than Kiersten arrived residence from her occasion to a home surrounded by flashing lights.

Kiersten Ongsiako: I noticed the warning tape and that her automotive was gone.

Police advised Kiersten what occurred to her mom.

Jim Axelrod: You had been deeply shaken.

Kiersten Ongsiako: Oh, yeah. I keep in mind at one level … my knees buckled … that they had the SUV, the undercover cop automotive. The trunk was open. So, I used to be like, can I sit right here as a result of I really feel like I will go out.

As Kiersten was processing the information, an all-out manhunt had already begun for Donna’s assailant. Detective Tozzi says one other 911 name had are available in shortly earlier than Donna’s assault from a driver who noticed somebody strolling alongside the street close to Donna’s home.

911 CALLER: I used to be going to choose up my daughter and there was a child hitchhiking.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: They noticed a younger man … with a backpack and khaki pants. … He was strolling near the fog line and type of entering into visitors. … She felt that he was type of a hitchhiker.

911 CALLER: He was on the north sure aspect, strolling south sure, and I am afraid he is gonna  get hit by a automotive …

911 OPERATOR: How outdated about? Caller: I am gonna say like 18,19, 20. One thing like that.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was involved as a result of she simply thought that possibly he wanted assist not directly.

Jim Axelrod: And was a automotive dispatched?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure. Sure. They did not discover him, although.

Nonetheless, the Good Samaritan driver had inadvertently given the investigation its first lead.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: I felt just like the hitchhiker was my particular person. … It was too coincidental … for that point of the evening in that space, for anyone to be strolling … after which quarter-hour later … Donna’s calling to say that she was stabbed.

And there was about to be one other tip — not lengthy after Donna’s 911 name — from a fast-food restaurant 5 miles from her home.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: They noticed a topic strolling by way of their drive-thru, knocking on home windows, carrying a knife and it seemed prefer it had blood on it.

Workers from the Taco Bell rapidly known as police.

OPERATOR: Do you’ve gotten any description of him?

CALLER: Yeah, he was carrying um, , like these Military pants? And he had no shirt. … He is White. With, like, actually, like, bushy hair, however it was, like, lengthy.  Just like the skater-type hair.

OPERATOR: How outdated was he?

CALLER: I do not know. He seemed like he was like 18.

Police rushed to the Taco Bell and began canvassing the close by purchasing middle. They did not discover their suspect, however they did discover one thing else.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, there had been a BOLO put out on — on Donna’s automobile.

Jim Axelrod: Be looking out.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Proper. And … within the strategy of searching for this particular person right here … they discovered the automotive.

Donna’s stolen automotive had been ditched behind a movie show.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was lights on … and it was operating. So, it clearly was an deserted automobile.

Tozzi says the automotive would develop into essential.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was blood throughout it. And so, we had been hoping that we might get some type of DNA proof of our suspect.

Jim Axelrod: Did you?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: We did.

A SUSPECT EMERGES

Sharon Sharpe will always remember the dread she felt when she arrived on the hospital to see her pal Donna Ongsiako solely to be advised she wasn’t there.

Jim Axelrod: I am picturing the colour draining out of your face and the air, leaving your lungs, like —

Sharon Sharpe: Completely … no, this can’t be. There is not any approach, she needs to be right here.

Jim Axelrod: Did you assume possibly she had died?

Sharon Sharpe: Sure. Sure.

It turned out, together with her attacker nonetheless on the free, the hospital had admitted Donna beneath an alias to guard her. Sharon was allowed to see Donna the subsequent day.

Sharon Sharpe: An intensive care room I’ve by no means seen earlier than. … It seemed like an enlarged, massively enlarged cockpit wall as a result of there have been tons of machines behind her. And he or she seemed virtually like a puppet.

Donna Ongsiako: Surgical procedure was seven hours, I imagine.

Regardless of dropping three quarters of the blood in her physique, trauma surgeons had saved Donna’s life, however at an incredible value.

Donna Ongsiako: I just about seemed like a dwelling cadaver. … I had 37 stitches on my face and neck, 38 staples in my chest, seven stitches in my hand. And now internally, my sternum is wired shut.

And as for that ultimate stab to Donna’s chest simply earlier than her assailant left —

Donna Ongsiako: It missed my coronary heart by the sting of a dime is what I keep in mind them telling me.

The sting of a dime.

Jim Axelrod: When she talks concerning the margin that the knife missed her coronary heart by.

Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah … if she was any slouched over … anymore, that will have been it.

Kiersten says as quickly as her mom was capable of discuss, she had one easy request.

Kiersten Ongsiako: I keep in mind her saying, all I odor is that this blood in my hair. Can anyone please wash my hair?

Sharon says they received permission, after which she and two of Donna’s relations did their finest to clean Donna’s hair as she lay in her hospital mattress. 

Sharon Sharpe: We had been decided to see if we may make her smile. So, we turned it right into a ridiculous fool session with three of us … like a manufacturing unit line. … We laughed by way of our tears. … and any time … anyone would get too critical we might make it humorous.

However her hair was removed from Donna’s largest concern. She was positive her attacker would discover her and end the job.

Sharon Sharpe: She was satisfied that he was within the hospital. And we stored telling her, no, you are right here beneath an alias.

Donna Ongsiako: I survived. I stood nose to nose with him. I may 100% positively determine him. He is coming again for me.

Detective Tozzi says they had been fairly positive the younger man knocking on home windows on the Taco Bell drive-thru shortly after Donna’s assault was their suspect. Inside two days, a buyer who noticed him met with a police sketch artist.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: And … was capable of present fairly nice particulars on the particular person she noticed that evening.

Investigators then took the sketch to the hospital.

Jim Axelrod: What did Donna say when she noticed that sketch?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: She mentioned, yeah, that was extremely correct. … She tweaked it just a little bit. … She mentioned that … sure, that appears like the one that stabbed me.

Donna Ongsiako: His … curly blonde hair. … He was like a surfer child … or a skateboarder or one thing like that.

Former Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says the sketch of the suspect was quickly plastered throughout Monmouth County and on legislation enforcement social media.

Laurie Gerhardt: So, persons are clearly speaking and attempting to determine, do we all know the place is he from? Who is that this child?… And it is scary since you wish to have a way of safety in your group.

Investigators reviewed the cameras of shops within the purchasing middle close to the Taco Bell to see in the event that they’d get fortunate and spot their suspect, hoping the extra pictures that they had, the extra seemingly the prospect of figuring out him.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: We had been … attempting to return and take a look at video … from varied companies to see the outline and … actually to place out the BOLO like that is who we’re searching for.

Safety cameras had captured the suspect as soon as once more.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: The surveillance we received from the shop over there … was from the within the shop, however it was pointing outwards.

Jim Axelrod: I see. And it undoubtedly caught him.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Oh, yeah. You might see him strolling.

Jim Axelrod: Wow.

As police stored searching for the suspect, Donna Ongsiako was turning a nook, at the very least bodily. Amazingly, after simply 4 days, Donna was launched from the hospital. Sharon says that was all because of the coaching Donna had completed previous to the assault.

Sharon Sharpe: Clearly, she’s very bodily match. … She would not have survived this if she wasn’t.

Jim Axelrod: It is a tremendous factor. You had been out in 4 days. However as you allow the hospital, you’re additionally strolling again right into a world the place whoever did this to you remains to be on the market.

Donna Ongsiako: Proper. But additionally … I wasn’t going again to the farm. I wasn’t going again to my home. No, there was no approach.

The truth is, Donna would by no means step foot in her home once more. She and Kiersten moved in with household dwelling in New Jersey. Then, simply eight days after the assault, not lengthy after the police sketch started circulating, Detective Tozzi’s telephone rang.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: I take the decision and the lady on the opposite finish … says that she’s calling concerning the stabbing in Colts Neck. I mentioned, “OK.” I mentioned … “How can I aid you?” And he or she mentioned, “I … assume … my cousin Brennan Doyle could have one thing to do with that.”

It was the primary time Tozzi had heard the title Brennan Doyle. He was simply 16. His cousin advised Tozzi phrase was going round her household that Brennan was concerned within the Colts Neck stabbing. The cousin had seen Brennan simply days previous to Donna’s assault.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Between July third and sixth, as a result of he was up in Connecticut for her marriage ceremony together with his household.

Jim Axelrod: He had attended her marriage ceremony?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: He attended her marriage ceremony, and he or she was capable of present us an image of what he seemed like in the course of the time he was up there for the marriage.

Laurie Gerhardt: The picture she sends is Brennan with lengthy, curly hair, carrying camouflage shorts. Trying very very similar to the child within the sketch and extra importantly on the videotapes.

Brennan’s resemblance to the sketch throughout city was about to develop into much more necessary due to what the cousin advised Detective Tozzi occurred a couple of days later.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was staying at … Brennan’s household’s lake home in New Hampshire as a marriage reward. And Brennan, his brother and the mom confirmed up there surprising.

Jim Axelrod: Cling on. This girl is in Lake Winnipesaukee. She’s on her honeymoon?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure.

Jim Axelrod: And unexpectedly there’s Brennan, Brennan’s mom, Brennan’s brother, crashing her honeymoon?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure. And the canine.

However what was much more stunning was Brennan’s look.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Brennan’s hair was minimize.

Jim Axelrod: The subsequent time she sees him, he is minimize his hair?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure.

Jim Axelrod: In order that’s a giant crimson flag.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Sure.

AN UNLIKELY SUSPECT

Brennan Doyle’s cousin advised investigators that Brennan confirmed up simply days after Donna’s assault, tons of of miles from residence, together with his hair all of the sudden minimize brief. Like Donna, the Doyle household resided in Colts Neck.

Laurie Gerhardt | Former Assistant Prosecutor:  They lived in a really good home, two sons, a mother and a dad. … The lifetime of a typical Colts Neck’s teenager. It is a lifetime of wealth. It is a lifetime of privilege.

Brennan was a pupil athlete on wrestling and hockey groups. Detective Tozzi began digging into his background.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: He had by no means been arrested. … There was by no means any fees filed in opposition to him previous to … our … investigation.

In line with the prosecutor’s information, police had been known as to the Doyle home for what they seek advice from as “household conflicts.” The situation of the house would develop into crucial.

Jim Axelrod: The place did Brennan reside?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, in case you make a proper up right here, um, and also you go up possibly 1 / 4 of a mile, uh, on the left.

Jim Axelrod: So, that is shut.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yeah.

The teenager and his household lived inside strolling distance of Donna’s home — up the very street that driver had reported seeing somebody she described as a younger hitchhiker simply previous to Donna’s assault.

Jim Axelrod: When does the Doyle household return to Colts Neck?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Later in July.

With Brennan and his household again on the town, Tozzi reached out to the household, saying investigators had been canvassing the neighborhood.

Jim Axelrod: What occurred if you went to the home?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: We spoke with Mrs. Doyle. … She was … nervous. … Her voice was cracking.

Jim Axelrod: Did this elevate an eyebrow for you?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: It did.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: We requested if Brennan and his brother may come and take a look at the composite sketch … if that they had any concept who that particular person may be on the sketch.

Jim Axelrod: Did Brennan come out?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: He did.

Tozzi says she needed to see Brennan’s hair to verify what his cousin had advised her: that it had been minimize a lot shorter. It appeared the teenager tried to remain a step forward when he got here out to greet the detective.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: He was carrying a hat. He was carrying a baseball hat.

Laurie Gerhardt: I feel carrying a baseball cap … was a calculated transfer.

It might need been, however it did not work.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: You might inform his hair was minimize brief.

Subsequent, Tozzi confirmed Brennan the police sketch of the suspect — the identical one Donna helped tweak to look similar to her attacker.

 Jim Axelrod: How did he react?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: He … seemed away. He checked out it, seemed away. And mentioned,” “I do not know. I do not know.” … He was nervous, and he was scared. … And he received very quiet.

Matt Troiano: There’s a response. Eyes are down. … No eye contact. Persons are nervous. Mother begins redirecting the dialog.

Brennan Doyle’s household and his lawyer denied “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. We requested Matt Troiano, a protection lawyer and CBS Information advisor, to review the case file.

Matt Troiano: And I feel that that most likely confirms what they imagine moving into.

Brennan’s odd habits and resemblance to the sketch and video proof could have been hanging, however with nothing else to go on but, Tozzi thanked the Doyles for his or her time and left.

Jim Axelrod:  Do you know that was your man?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: I used to be fairly assured … that we had been heading in the right direction with him. However we even have an obligation … we had different leads that had been coming in. … So, we had been doing quite a lot of … comply with ups. 

As investigators labored the case, Donna was struggling. Weeks after the assault, the fact of what had occurred to her had taken maintain.

Donna Ongsiako: I misplaced every thing that evening. I misplaced my residence, had nowhere to go. I misplaced my automotive. They took it into proof.

Jim Axelrod: Donna, you misplaced greater than half your blood.

Donna Ongsiako: Precisely. I misplaced — I misplaced rather a lot.

Donna says that is when, along with her bodily restoration, she confronted a brand new problem.

Donna Ongsiako: Signs of PTSD began to indicate up. …  I am not consuming. I am not sleeping. I do not care about something. I am indignant. I am unhappy. I am glad. You already know, each emotion beneath the solar at any minute.

Donna Ongsiako: I felt like I used to be going loopy. … I used to be … at all times considering … “I do not know who this child is, however he climbed by way of the window in that second that I fell asleep and now he is hiding within the closet.” You already know, type of loopy ideas.

Sharon Sharpe says Donna’s concern meant even pleasant visits required a brand new protocol. –including saying her arrival each step of the best way in order to not set off Donna.

Sharon Sharpe: “I will come across the hedges now and I will enter the yard. I will be touching the gate in three, two, one.” … I might shake my keys first, which had bells on them … Say, “It is me, Sharon. I am coming.”

The investigation lasted by way of the summer time of 2013. Brennan Doyle remained the one seemingly suspect. Detective Tozzi says investigators took the subsequent step in September.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: We received a warrant to acquire his DNA … his fingerprints, pictures of him, simply issues which might be private to him.

When the outcomes got here again —

Matt Troiano: There is a fingerprint match, then finally there is a DNA match.

Brennan Doyle’s DNA was a spot-on match to unknown DNA present in Donna’s automotive — in a variety of locations.

Matt Troiano: Eleven completely different DNA samples and items of proof present in that automobile. And actually, there is no cause why Brennan Doyle’s DNA ought to be on this girl’s automobile. … He is a stranger to her.

Another essential piece of proof was present in early October in probably the most surprising spot.

Det. Andrea Tozzi:  Repairmen had been servicing an air con unit that was on the highest of the strip mall. … They discovered the knife … on the roof proper close to the air con unit.

A knife, wanting weathered, as if it had been there for months was discovered on a bowling alley roof in the exact same purchasing middle the place the Taco Bell was positioned and the place Donna’s automotive had been deserted.

Jim Axelrod: How necessary was the knife?

Det. Andrea Tozzi: It ended up being crucial as a result of … the knife was from a set. … We decided that that knife matched one other knife that we knew got here from the Doyle family that had been taken months earlier.

By way of a twist of timing and destiny, the Colts Neck police already had one other knife from the Doyle residence, taken after police had been known as to the home a couple of weeks previous to Donna’s assault, following an altercation between Brennan and his brother.

Matt Troiano: There is a knife that is apparently utilized by the youthful brother … in a threatening method. Police are known as. Police take the knife… and the state of affairs ends.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was no fees or something that got here of it, however … they secured the knife of their proof vault. … It was the identical … model title, the identical look. … It was a silver knife.

Jim Axelrod: It was from the identical assortment.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: Right.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: That was type of the icing on the cake to get … a search warrant. … They’d moved in the course of the course of this investigation. So, we received a search warrant for his or her new residence.

The search of the brand new Doyle residence, additionally in Colts Neck, turned up the remainder of the knife set matching the one discovered atop the purchasing middle. In late October 2013, Brennan Doyle was arrested.

Jim Axelrod: What sorts of fees was he dealing with?

Matt Troiano: Severe ones. Tried homicide, carjacking, weapons possession. These are probably the most critical of crimes that we now have.

THE STRENGTH TO MOVE FORWARD

Months after Donna’s brush with loss of life, her alleged attacker Brennan Doyle was in custody, dealing with six counts together with tried homicide and carjacking. He pleaded not responsible.

Laurie Gerhardt: It’s a must to take a look at the seriousness of the offense.

The prosecution felt the crime warranted attempting Brennan as an grownup — despite the fact that he was 16 on the time.

Laurie Gerhardt: in juvenile court docket, Brennan is taking a look at 4 years most in … a youth detention facility … In grownup court docket … he is taking a look at as much as 30 years.

A choose would rule in Assistant Prosecutor Gerhardt’s favor, however there was a catch. Brennan would now be entitled to publish bail, set at $760,000, which he did.

Jim Axelrod: Once you heard he was out, did the entire concern come dashing again?

Donna Ongsiako: It wasn’t a lot concern because it was anger that he was even allowed to be bailed out.

The considered operating into Brennan terrified Kiersten. She says he even haunted her desires.

Kiersten Ongsiako: I did not understand how a lot it was affecting me … I had no concept till I used to be, like, falling asleep. And all I see is his face.

As prosecutors developed their case, the small print of what occurred that horrific evening started to emerge.

Jim Axelrod: What does Brennan Doyle say occurred the evening of July sixth, heading into the morning of July seventh, 2013?

Matt Troiano: Mushrooms. He says he was … beneath the affect of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In line with investigative experiences he examined, Matt Troiano says that on the evening of Donna’s assault, Doyle claimed he was dropping contact with actuality and had gotten right into a battle together with his father.

Matt Troiano: He has a knife in his hand. … Dad kicks him out. … And … he type of loses his thoughts, makes unhealthy selections.

Police thought it seemingly that Brennan, who lived a brief distance away, approached Donna’s residence trying to steal her automotive.

Det. Andrea Tozzi: I do not know if his intent was to kill Donna. … definitely, when he began stabbing her, that turned his intent.

Laurie Gerhardt: To me, what he is doing is he is eliminating the witness.

Gerhardt believes Brennan didn’t act like somebody incapacitated by medication. Brennan drove 5 miles to that purchasing middle after leaving Donna’s home.

Laurie Gerhardt: This child … manages to ditch a knife … He abandons the automotive … That is not a child who’s so excessive on mushrooms, he would not know what he is doing.

Troiano says whereas quite a lot of the proof in opposition to Brennan Doyle was robust — the knife, the safety digicam movies — one factor put this case excessive.

Matt Troiano: What’s going to seal the destiny of this boy, this child, is that there is DNA in her automobile that hyperlinks to him. …  It is indefensible.

However because it turned out, there can be no want for a protection. In August 2015, Brennan Doyle agreed to a plea deal. In return, the prosecution dropped all however the two most critical fees — carjacking and tried homicide.

Donna Ongsiako: It was crucial for me that he admit his guilt … If he took the plea, he must confess his guilt to the court docket.

In October 2015, Brennan Doyle, now 18 years outdated, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Courtroom for sentencing. Donna, who’d attended each court docket look, was there to face him one final time. 

Donna Ongsiako: Though I felt overpowered by concern … I needed him to see me as robust and as a survivor.

It was an emotional day for Kiersten, there to assist her mom.

Jim Axelrod: Once you would take a look at him in court docket? What do you keep in mind feeling?

Kiersten Ongsiako: Anger. Very indignant. Sorry (cries).

Brennan was permitted to deal with the court docket.

BRENNAN DOYLE (in court docket): The medication turned me right into a monster that evening. … I pray and hope her wounds will reduce, and she’s going to get well finally. I’m asking you to forgive me.

BRENNAN DOYLE (in court docket): Going to jail would be the hardest factor I’ll ever must face in my life and I am afraid.

“Brennan Doyle later despatched “48 Hours” this assertion:

“The one factor I can say is an apology to the sufferer. My actions have altered her life cruelly. She ought to by no means have needed to tackle the ache and struggling I inflicted. She didn’t deserve what occurred to her, and it was completely my fault. All I can do is get up every day guided by my unforgiveable actions, and act with the dignity my 16 yr outdated self didn’t possess. I’m sorry for every thing.”

Brennan Doyle was sentenced to fifteen years in state jail. The legislation requires him to serve at the very least 85 % of that point.

Laurie Gerhardt: Justice needs to be completed on either side, and we now have to be delicate to that. We have now a 16-year-old child who for probably the most half had completely no prior historical past. … The court docket has a balancing act to do.

Jim Axelrod: Did it really feel like justice?

Donna Ongsiako: It didn’t.

Jim Axelrod: What would have felt like justice to you?

Donna Ongsiako: Extra like 30 years. 40 years. 50 years. If not longer.

Even with Brennan off the streets, Donna was nonetheless struggling. She had discovered PTSD and home violence assist teams however says there have been none for victims of random assaults. So, in 2015, she determined to create her personal: Survivors of Violent Crimes.

Tiffany Ott: [The] cause … we took to the assist group … was … to assist one another cope.

Donna related with fellow survivors Tiffany Ott and Dana Richards. Collectively they held conferences and felt gratified they might assist when extra survivors joined.

Dana Richards: They’re discovering reduction in realizing that they don’t seem to be alone.

However Donna says her work is not completed. Her future plans embody serving to victims join with trauma therapists and providing self-defense courses.

As she grows her assist group, she’s additionally educating others. She travels to prisons, assembly with inmates and addresses police cadets to allow them to perceive the sufferer’s standpoint.

DONNA ONGSIAKO (chatting with police cadets in 2019): I received up and made it up the steps to my bed room the place my cellphone was … however I received by way of to 911. 

Sharon Sharpe: She survives. And he or she’s constructing a life. … How may anybody not applaud that?

Donna says the bodily scars that stay are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life.

Donna Ongsiako: You might both get sucked into the darkness … otherwise you simply maintain going. … I did what I needed to do to — to be right here at the moment … and go one other day.

Donna Ongsiako filed a civil swimsuit in opposition to Brennan Doyle and his father. She was awarded $5 million. She has but to obtain cost.

Brennan Doyle will probably be eligible for parole in 2027. He will probably be 30 years outdated. 

 

Produced by Susan Mallie and Kat Teurfs. Marcus Balsam, Michelle Harris and Jud Johnston are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the manager editor. Judy Tygard is the manager producer.

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