Every Move You Make

by M. William Phelps

  To those of you whose names I changed in the book at your request: thank you for sharing your stories, letters, documents and other helpful memories and materials.

  The late great author Jack Olsen once said that a crime book without a few name changes is a crime story not worth telling, simply because the entire story is not being told. In my opinion, this book proves Jack’s theory.

  Bill Murphy and Jan Murphy: Thank you for allowing me into your home and sharing with me your anecdotes and memories. That visit changed this book. Also, Tina Spata, Tom Wessels, Kate Murphy.

  I need to acknowledge all the law enforcement officers involved in the life and crimes of Gary Evans. Although a lot of you weren’t mentioned by name in the book, it is important to note that your work was instrumental in the entire scope of the Gary Evans saga. In no particular order: Ron Campano, Kevin Chevrier, Jim O’Connor, John Camp, John Couch, Mary DeSantis, Steve Ercole, John Mays, Dennis Moessner, John Carey, John Egan, Jeff Ullman, Drew McDonald, Eric Cullum, George McNally, Leo Blanchard, Walt Goodell, Donte Annicelli, John-Paul Sinclair, Marty Hatch, Patrick Devenger, Darren Annis—and, of course, Thor, the K-9 who ultimately caught Gary Evans.

  Doug Wingate: thank you, sir.

  Robbie Evans was a treasure trove of information. The letters, photographs, cards and e-mails partly made this book what it is. Thank you, Robbie, for helping me.

  Jo Rehm: You are the true hero in this story. Let go and allow yourself the space to accept the fact that you were never responsible for anything Gary Evans did throughout his life. Your help in this project was commendable. Without it, the book would have suffered greatly.

  My children and my wife of many years: How can I write a book without thanking you for listening to my stories, allowing me the space to fill the house with horrific tales of Gary Evans’s life, and supporting me 100 percent. I love you all. You know that.

  I know I forgot someone, perhaps several. If that is the case, I apologize.

  Gary Evans took this photo of Timothy Rysedorph, 39, who went missing on October 3, 1997. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Gary C. Evans is shown leaving a self-storage unit parking lot in Colonie, New York after cutting up the body of his final victim with a chainsaw and placing it in garbage bags. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  May 1998: Evans lying in a freshly dug grave after fleeing New York and leading Investigator Jim Horton on a multi-state manhunt. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  After murdering his final victim, Gary Evans fled to the west coast and used several different identities to avoid capture by Jim Horton. (Photos courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  In early 1998, Evans eluded capture by taking work on an Alaskan fishing boat and also posing as a tourist. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  While fleeing Horton, Evans spent time in Washington state and Oregon. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans in 1998, on the run, stopped to photograph himself at Bruce Lee’s gravesite in Seattle, Washington. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans in 1987, shoulder-to-shoulder with one of his heroes, David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz.

  The game of cat-and-mouse that had gone on for 12 years between Gary Evans and Jim Horton came to an end on May 27, 1998, when Horton captured him in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. (Photo courtesy of Jim Horton)

  Investigator Jim Horton began his career with the New York State Police on February 20, 1978. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police Academy)

  Born on October 7, 1954, Gary Evans grew up in this apartment on First Street in Troy, New York. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Even when he was two, Gary Evans’s family and friends were already talking about his striking blue eyes. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans’s father, Leroy Evans (shown here with Evans’s sister, Robbie), would, among many other abusive punishments, strap his only son to a chair and force-feed him. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Although Evans later said he loved his mother, Flora Mae (shown here with Evans at Pine Lake, New York), he often blamed her for not protecting him from Leroy. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Little Gary Evans standing next to his sister, Robbie, before heading off to church. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  A straight-A student during his grammar school days, Evans hated having to wear thick, horned-rim glasses, because he was often picked on by the other kids. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Obsessed with the outdoors, by the mid-1970s Evans was already burglarizing homes and living in the woods to elude police. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  As Evans started to bulk up by the late 1970s, he grew a beard that draped down below his chest. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Awaiting sentencing on a burglary charge, Evans escaped from Rensselaer County Jail in downtown Troy (shown here) on June 12, 1980, with the help of four Hell’s Angels. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  The downtown Troy apartment where Gary Evans lived with Michael Falco and Tim Rysedorph. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Michael Falco (shown here) and Gary Evans were partners until Evans murdered Falco in 1985. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Twenty-eight-year-old Damien Cuomo became what Evans would later call “a liability” who “had to be killed.” (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Evans and Cuomo broke into the Square Lion Jewelry Store in Watertown, New York, and Evans then murdered store owner Douglas Berry. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Evans took this photo of Damien Cuomo while they were doing burglary jobs together in the mid-eighties. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  In the fall of 1989, Evans took this photo of Damien Cuomo a few weeks before he killed him. (Courtesy Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  In 1992, Evans was in the best physical shape of his life. (Photo courtesy of Jim Horton)

  Investigator Jim Horton would stop by Evans’s apartment and photograph him. (Photo courtesy of Jim Horton)

  Troop G in Loudonville, New York, where Senior Investigator Jim Horton worked during his thirteen-year ordeal with Gary C. Evans. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Senior Investigator Jim Horton eventually got Gary Evans to admit to killing five people in the span of nearly fifteen years. (Photo courtesy of J. Jevons)

  Investigator Jim Horton arrested Evans on January 10, 1994, for stealing a 1,000-lb. marble bench out of a local cemetery. (Photos courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Evans took this photo of himself in the early nineties. Some would later ask if it showed a secret life he had been leading for years or if it was a simple Halloween costume. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  In 1998, shortly before his escape, Evans led Jim Horton to this field in Brunswick, New York, where he buried his dismembered final victim. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Evans buried his first victim, Michael Falco, in this shallow grave in Lake Worth, Florida. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Handcuffed to Jim Horton, Evans searches this wooded area in Troy, New York, where he buried his second victim, Damien Cuomo. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  On August 14, 1998, Gary Evans escaped from federal marshals by jumping off the Troy-Menands Bridge, which spans sixty-two feet above the Hudson River, near downtown Troy, New York. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  The area near the Troy-Menands Bridge where Gary Evans la
nded after escaping from the federal marshals who were transporting him. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Federal marshals were driving this Astro minivan when Evans retrieved a handcuff key from his sinus, unshackled one of his wrists, kicked out the side window, and escaped. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  This fully intact razorblade (left) was found secured to Evans’s ankle; this smaller blade (right) was found tucked up and underneath his upper gum, behind a molar. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Evans lodged this handcuff key deep up into his right sinus. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  An X-ray taken later shows the handcuff key lodged in Evans’s sinus cavity. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  This was the last photo taken of Evans before his escape on August 14, 1998. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Defiant until the end, Evans was found with his middle finger sticking up. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Jim Horton in 2004, with Gary Evans’s ashes. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  A portend of things to come, Gary Evans drew this picture of a man flying through the air, shards of glass around him, and sent it to Horton on August 9, 1998. (Letter from which photo is taken courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Life-long friend and Gary Evans supporter Jo Rehm (left), and Evans’s sister, Robbie Evans Stowe (right), during happier times. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Gary Evans took this photo of Timothy Rysedorph, 39, who went missing on October 3, 1997. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Gary C. Evans is shown leaving a self-storage unit parking lot in Colonie, New York after cutting up the body of his final victim with a chainsaw and placing it in garbage bags. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Troop G in Loudonville, New York, where Senior Investigator Jim Horton worked during his thirteen-year ordeal with Gary C. Evans. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Senior Investigator Jim Horton eventually got Gary Evans to admit to killing five people in the span of nearly fifteen years. (Photo courtesy of J. Jevons)

  Investigator Jim Horton arrested Evans on January 10, 1994, for stealing a 1,000-lb. marble bench out of a local cemetery. (Photos courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Evans took this photo of himself in the early nineties. Some would later ask if it showed a secret life he had been leading for years or if it was a simple Halloween costume. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  In 1998, shortly before his escape, Evans led Jim Horton to this field in Brunswick, New York, where he buried his dismembered final victim. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Evans buried his first victim, Michael Falco, in this shallow grave in Lake Worth, Florida. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Handcuffed to Jim Horton, Evans searches this wooded area in Troy, New York, where he buried his second victim, Damien Cuomo. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  On August 14, 1998, Gary Evans escaped from federal marshals by jumping off the Troy-Menands Bridge, which spans sixty-two feet above the Hudson River, near downtown Troy, New York. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  The area near the Troy-Menands Bridge where Gary Evans landed after escaping from the federal marshals who were transporting him. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Federal marshals were driving this Astro minivan when Evans retrieved a handcuff key from his sinus, unshackled one of his wrists, kicked out the side window, and escaped. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  This fully intact razorblade (left) was found secured to Evans’s ankle; this smaller blade (right) was found tucked up and underneath his upper gum, behind a molar. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Evans lodged this handcuff key deep up into his right sinus. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  An X-ray taken later shows the handcuff key lodged in Evans’s sinus cavity. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  This was the last photo taken of Evans before his escape on August 14, 1998. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  Defiant until the end, Evans was found with his middle finger sticking up. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  A portend of things to come, Gary Evans drew this picture of a man flying through the air, shards of glass around him, and sent it to Horton on August 9, 1998. (Letter from which photo is taken courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Jim Horton in 2004, with Gary Evans’s ashes. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Life-long friend and Gary Evans supporter Jo Rehm (left), and Evans’s sister, Robbie Evans Stowe (right), during happier times. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  May 1998: Evans lying in a freshly dug grave after fleeing New York and leading Investigator Jim Horton on a multi-state manhunt. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  After murdering his final victim, Gary Evans fled to the west coast and used several different identities to avoid capture by Jim Horton. (Photos courtesy of the New York State Police, Troop G, Identification Bureau)

  In early 1998, Evans eluded capture by taking work on an Alaskan fishing boat and also posing as a tourist. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans in 1998, on the run, stopped to photograph himself at Bruce Lee’s gravesite in Seattle, Washington. (Courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  While fleeing Horton, Evans spent time in Washington state and Oregon. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans in 1987, shoulder-to-shoulder with one of his heroes, David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz.

  The game of cat-and-mouse that had gone on for 12 years between Gary Evans and Jim Horton came to an end on May 27, 1998, when Horton captured him in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. (Photo courtesy of Jim Horton)

  Investigator Jim Horton began his career with the New York State Police on February 20, 1978. (Photo courtesy of the New York State Police Academy)

  Born on October 7, 1954, Gary Evans grew up in this apartment on First Street in Troy, New York. (Photo courtesy of the author)

  Even when he was two, Gary Evans’s family and friends were already talking about his striking blue eyes. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Evans’s father, Leroy Evans (shown here with Evans’s sister, Robbie), would, among many other abusive punishments, strap his only son to a chair and force-feed him. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Although Evans later said he loved his mother, Flora Mae (shown here with Evans at Pine Lake, New York), he often blamed her for not protecting him from Leroy. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  Little Gary Evans standing next to his sister, Robbie, before heading off to church. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)

  A straight-A student during his grammar school days, Evans hated having to wear thick, horned-rim glasses, because he was often picked on by the other kids. (Photo courtesy of Robbie Evans, “Little Big Sister”)