In 1977 19-year-old Terri Jentz who was from Western Springs, Illinois and 20-year-old Avra Goldman from Wellesley, Massachusetts were roommates and students at Yale University. They decided that summer that they were going to cycle across the U.S. via the newly opened Trans America Trail. They would end their tour in Astoria, Oregon.
On the night of June 22, they headed east from Astoria and ended up in Cline Flass State Park in Oregon. They decided to camp there for the night though the women felt uneasy as if they were being watched. The two would go to bed and would wake up at 11:30 p.m. to the sound of a vehicle. This was when the nightmare would start.
It was initially believed that the truck pulling up belonged to partying teenagers. The truck would then drive over the tent its tires pinning Terri down, this would break both her arms, one leg, her collar bone, and several ribs as well as crushing her lung. A man exited the vehicle with an axe. He would hit Avra in the head with it around 6 times.
The man then would hover over Terri looking down at her. He would slowly bring down the axe over Terri and she caught it in her hands above her heart by the blade. He then withdrew it and drove away. He left the girls to die. Terri would describe him as a fit cowboy type.
Avra was able to get to the roadside even though her leg was broken and she had wounds from the axe. A motorist heard her cries and took both women to the hospital. They would state the scene was a bloody mess. Miraculously neither woman lost their lives even though their injuries were significant.
Terri was able to remember the attack, but Avra's eyesight went bad from the wounds and she couldn't remember that night. The man who attacked them was never caught. Later Terri would go back to Oregon to search for the man who tried to kill her and this caused her to write "A Strange Piece of Paradise".
Terri was able to remember the attack, but Avra's eyesight went bad from the wounds and she couldn't remember that night. The man who attacked them was never caught. Later Terri would go back to Oregon to search for the man who tried to kill her and this caused her to write "A Strange Piece of Paradise".
She found out that all the initial information on the case was lost. This included interviews, physical evidence, and crime scene photos. She also found that the man who was thought to have tried to kill them a child rapist and child murderer Richard Wayne "Bud" Goodman did not match the description.
Instead, she said that another suspect who she gives them a different name in her book as Dirk Duran. He matches the description and had told people over the years that he was not involved with the ax attack. But others in the community had suspected him.
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