The Salem Strangler

In 1981, Dr. Marlena Evans began to receive disturbing phone calls and threatening letters while working on her radio show. Shortly after, a young woman was found strangled to death. When a second woman was murdered in the same fashion, the police launched their investigation into the Salem Strangler!

The killer sent Marlena another mysterious letter in which he blamed her for the murders! The police arrested Todd Chandler after he broke into Marlena's home but the phone calls continued while he was still in jail. Before the next killing, the strangler left Marlena a gruesome clue, a doll with a broken neck hung by a silk scarf. Lorie Masters was found dead shortly thereafter.

Renee Dumonde was the strangler's next target. She survived the initial attack in her bathtub but the strangler returned to finish the job while she recovered in the hospital. Meanwhile, Roman Brady and Don Craig saved Marlena, who was being held at knife point by Eugene Bradford. After he was apprehended, Eugene confessed to being the Salem Strangler and was placed in a mental institution...but the killings continued!

The real Salem Strangler emerged to be Jake Kositchek. He went on to strangle Mary Anderson before finally going after his prime target, Marlena Evans. Jake obtained a key to Marlena's house, sneaked into her room, and unknowingly killed her twin sister, Samantha! When Marlena returned from a trip to Colorado, Jake cornered her at gunpoint. Fortunately, Roman came to the rescue and shot and killed Jake.

The people of Salem were relieved that the Salem Strangler had finally been stopped. Marlena felt personally responsible for all the murders while Roman dealt with his first shooting since becoming a police officer. Roman and Marlena left for Mazatlan in order to put the ordeal behind them.