RAPE AND ROBBERY AS THEY SHOW HOUSES TO STRANGERS
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Realtor Linda Tedesco was attacked while showing a home.
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More than 200 real
estate agents have been killed on the job in a recent span of less than 20
years (from 1982-2000) as they show strangers empty houses.
Source: According To The Real Estate Safety Council
Inside Edition looks at the disturbing number of fatal attacks, a
danger also faced by home owners showing their own houses, and speaks with
an expert who offers tips for avoiding potentially fatal consequences.
Exemplifying the problem, Linda Tedesco, a successful real estate agent who
shows high-end homes in Florida, went to meet a man who had called her
agency near Daytona Beach last February.
“I remember looking at him and saying, ‘I wonder why he's carrying that
briefcase, and he doesn't look like he can afford this house,’” Tedesco
tells Inside Edition.
As Tedesco showed the property, she tells Inside Edition her
concerns grew, but she ignored her intuition: “I'm not going to lose a big
sale I told myself.”
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Richard Pate is doing time in Florida for robbing and kidnapping a
real estate agent.
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Tedesco admits that
she let her guard down, and she soon found herself cornered in a walk-in
closet. “He said, ‘This is a robbery. My team is in place. Get down.’ I was
terrified.”
The robber tore off her jewelry, bound her with duct tape, and threw her to
the closet floor.
“I didn't know if they were going to kill me, or if they were going to rape
me and then kill me. But I just had it in my head that I wasn't going to get
out of there one way or another.”
Incredibly, though, Tedesco managed to free herself and ran to a neighboring
home. Richard Pate was convicted on kidnapping and robbery charges for the
crime after he allegedly robbed several other realtors.
Tedesco was lucky. According to the Real Estate Safety Council, in less than
a 20-year period, more than 200 realtors were killed on the job
Just last month, realtor Garland Taylor was killed as he was showing a $1
million home in an Albuquerque, New Mexico suburb. Police say Mario Lucas
Chavez, who has pleaded not guilty, pretended to be a prospective buyer and
shot Taylor in the back of the head.
And the double murders of realtors Lori Brown and Cynthia Williams, who were
shot to death in the model home of a prosperous Atlanta area subdivision in
November 2003, shocked the profession. Police say Stacey Ian Humphries
killed the two women during a robbery. He has pleaded not guilty to two
first-degree murder charges.
But, as Inside Edition reports, it's not just realtors who are at
risk. Diane Holik of Austin, Tex., was trying to sell her own home when
Patrick Russo, posing as a buyer, strangled her to death. He was convicted
of murder.
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Security consultant Robert Siciliano
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Rising security
concerns throughout the industry have led realtors’ groups to set up
meetings to discuss safety and learn self defense techniques. Security
consultant Robert Siciliano, who lectures realtors' groups across the
country, tells Inside Edition that all too often people selling
homes ignore potential warning signs.
“Listen to your intuition,” he tells Inside Edition. “If your
intuition's jumping up and down saying, ‘Whoa, something doesn't seem right
with this situation,’ respond to that feeling and don't put dollar signs in
front of your personal security.”
Siciliano offered Inside Edition safety tips for anyone selling a
home. Among them:
At no point put your back to the person being shown the house. Also, never
follow a “client” into a tight space where there is no exit, like a
basement, closet, or even a bathroom.
Linda Tedesco tells Inside Edition she is now much more security
conscious. She makes potential clients meet her at the office before showing
a home.
But, she says she still worries about getting attacked again. “I'm still not
comfortable,” she tells Inside Edition. “If you were to come to me
and want to look at a house, I've never met you, I'm still nervous. I'm
still nervous.”
- Keep A Cell Phone With You At All Times And Check In With The Office Hourly
- Be Careful How You Dress. Flashy Or Expensive Jewelry Might Attract The Wrong Kind Of Attention
- Don't Put Your Home Phone Number On Your Business Card
- Never Advertise A Property As Vacant
- Always Take Your Own Car For Showings
- Let Potential Buyers Take The Lead When Exploring A Home, With You Following From Behind
- Always Have Prospects Meet You At Your Office The First Time
- Ask For Identification
- Know Your Sales Area By Previewing The Property
- Trust Your
Instincts. If You're Suspicious, It's Better To Walk Away From A Listing
Or Showing.