Around the same time Shore suffered a major blow when he received a letter with official divorce documents from Amy. Things once again began to plummet downhill for him.
One of the reasons postulated by Gina Worley Shore as to why Tony lost his house was that he spent too much money on cocaine, despite a ban on all illicit drugs as part of his probation. Indeed, Shore’s drug usage was probably the main reason why he used to hide out from Chet Machen, according to Pauline.
Just as he had done with Amy, Shore frequently snorted coke in front of Pauline. Though she spent time in rehab, cocaine was never her drug of choice. She claimed that she had only partaken in the substance one time prior to meeting Shore. Pauline admitted that there was cocaine in the house “from one to three times a week.”
Pauline added that Tony Shore was very cognizant of his required in-office probationary meetings with Chet Machen. Whenever he had a scheduled appointment, he made sure he did not snort coke for three days prior to the meeting. He told Pauline that “he would clean his system out” in case he was required to submit a urine sample for drug testing.
Shore got good at fixing his drug tests. One time, according to Pauline, he even put some pickled onion juice in ajar and gave it to Machen instead of his potentially drug-laced urine.
On August 29, 2000, Shore’s deception caught up with him. He told Pauline that he had to appear in court because he was ten hours shy of completing his mandatory community service and was probably going to get nailed for it. The reality was quite different. Shore had finally gotten snagged for cocaine usage. A routine drug test turned up traces of cocaine in his urine.
Shore spent the next twenty days behind bars. While he sat in jail, he made friends with another convicted sex offender. Allegedly, he and the other man concocted a grandiose scheme to steal a large sailboat and travel around the world stopping in various ports of call, where they would abduct and rape little girls and then sail away.
* * *
When Tony Shore got out of jail near the end of September, he told Pauline that “time was running out” for him. She had no idea what he was talking about. He kept telling her that something big was going to happen and that his time was limited.
“He was always so trustworthy,” she declared in a near state of shock. “You just believed everything he said.”
Eventually, Shore and Pauline had to move out of their home because the landlord decided to sell it to someone else. The couple packed up and moved into a townhome on the 6100 block of Marinette Drive. Ironically, it was directly across the street from where America’s most prolific serial killer, Coral Eugene Watts, stabbed and killed Elizabeth Montgomery on September 12, 1981, and a mere two blocks away from where Watts also killed Suzi Wolf later that same night. (See Evil Eyes by Corey Mitchell, Kensington/Pinnacle, 2006.)
Shore broke even more conditions of his probation after they moved into the townhome. Though his other major condition (aside from illegal drug usage) was no pornography, Shore had plenty of it. Pauline expressed concern for her boyfriend because she knew he could get busted, but he simply blew her off.
Shore was also not supposed to have any contact with minors. He, of course, ignored that condition as well. According to Pauline, they would go out to Dave & Buster’s, a restaurant with pool tables and video games that was frequented by teenagers, preteens, and adolescents. He also took Pauline to the Renaissance Festival two or three times in one year, which was teeming with teenage girls. Further, he was not supposed to leave Harris County, but the Renaissance Festival was actually held in nearby Plantersville, outside Harris County.
Shore also took Pauline to the Art Car Ball, a parade with lots of children present.
Each time he went to one of these events, he never did seek approval from Chet Machen. Shore just did not care which rules applied specifically to him.
Eventually, he and Pauline could no longer afford payments on the townhome, so they packed up their belongings and moved into the InTown Suites at the 30000 block of Highway 6th South, on the west side of Houston. InTown Suites is a pay-as-you-go hotel/apartment complex with basic amenities, such as a refrigerator, stove, and microwave, where residents can pay on a week-to-week basis.
But probation be damned. Tony and Pauline’s stay at InTown Suites consisted of lots of cocaine and tequila. The blow snowed and the liquor flowed.
Pauline recalled a few unusual instances with Shore at InTown Suites. One time, when the couple stayed home to watch a movie, Shore paid careful attention to the scene in which a man strangled a female victim. Shore looked at Pauline and said, “That’s not how a strangulation victim would look. Her eyes should be more red, almost bloodshot. And they should be bulging out.”
Pauline raised an eyebrow as she listened to what her boyfriend just described. She did not pursue the issue any further.
Another time Shore had a friend, Chris Stone, over for some coke and tequila. It was their usual recipe for fun. But at this particular shindig, Pauline did not have such a good time. Usually, when she partook in cocaine, she tended to bounce off the walls. Sleep was usually out of the question. This time, however, she felt sleepy and lethargic. She was barely able to hold her head up.
Pauline stumbled over to the refrigerator to find some cool water to help clear her head. When she opened the refrigerator door, she was perplexed by something inside. She grabbed what, at first glance, looked like a glass of water. As she tilted the cup toward her mouth, she caught a glimpse of what was inside. The drink looked like it had powdered soap particles in it that were dissolving. Pauline stopped short of taking a swig of the polluted water.
She then noticed a cellophane wrapper from a pack of cigarettes inside the refrigerator. She picked up the wrapper and saw a fairly large quantity of white powder in the wrapper. She assumed it was the same substance that had clouded up her potential drink.
“What is this?” Pauline called out to Shore.
Her boyfriend laughed as he saw what she was asking about. He said it belonged to Chris and that he was going to help him use it on “a woman they all knew” so “he [Tony] can take advantage of her.” While Pauline did not like the fact that Shore possibly was going to drug a woman, she was too tired to do anything about it, and soon passed out.
Later that night Pauline was surprised when she woke up naked. She was even more surprised to see Shore on top of her, choking her with his hands. She already had told him she was not into the choking-during-sex thing, but he obviously had not listened. Pauline became frightened when Shore ignored her pleas to stop and kept on going. She tried desperately to fend him off by pushing him, but he would not budge. She began to struggle and roll around, and, somehow, she managed to disengage from him.
“What the hell are you doing?” Pauline screamed. She began to sob hysterically. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“No,” Shore declared. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. Really, I didn’t mean it. I promise it will never happen again.” It was the same promise he had made to her the first time he tried it a few years earlier.
Shore’s attack scared the hell out of Pauline. She ran off and went to stay with her sister, Charlotte, in Texas City. When she told her sister what Shore had done, Charlotte demanded that she leave him immediately. Pauline agreed and, soon thereafter, told her boyfriend she was leaving. He did not put up much of a fight and even packed her bags for her.
It was time for Tony Shore to move on to the next woman in his life.
He needed someone to take care of, and he knew it would not take long to find that certain someone.
CHAPTER 48
300 block of Freeport Street,
Houston, Texas.
Lynda White was feeling slightly dejected. The fifty-year-old single mother of three had not been on a date in seven years. She had actually been engaged to the last man she dated, but she had broken it off after five years because she was not ready for marriage.
Lynda had high standards for the men she wa
nted to date. Her fiancé had been a very successful man who used to spoil her with lots of attention and trips to Hawaii. She had not found a man equivalent to him in the intervening seven years and seemed resigned to her fate of singledom.
Lynda’s cousin, however, believed Lynda was a vibrant, beautiful, fun lady who could use some good male company. So, she took matters into her own hands. She signed her cousin up with an Internet dating service. When she told Lynda about it, her cousin acted upset, but admitted that she was pleased and even somewhat excited about the prospect of meeting a nice, entertaining man.
The man she got was named Tony Shore.
Lynda liked Shore’s biographical data as listed on the dating Web site. He described himself as “bohemian, funny” and said he had a love for music. She believed the two had a lot in common and decided to give him a shot. They e-mailed each other several times, until Lynda finally decided to give him her telephone number. They spoke on the phone several times and got to know one another a little better until, finally, Lynda decided it was time for the couple to take the next step. She was always big into family. For her first date with Shore, she put him to the test. He was to meet her at her mother’s house for a get-together with her mother, Lynda’s three children—twenty-one-year-old Josh and her twenty-year-old twins, Jason and Kristin—and her five-month-old grandson. She figured if he could feel comfortable around her family, he might be all right.
Shore was much better than all right. He appeared to be in his element. He charmed the entire family with his sense of humor and his piano playing. He led the family in sing-alongs and chatted amiably with the kids. He spent lots of time with Lynda’s son Josh, talking about their mutual love for true-crime books and true-crime television shows. Josh was in a heavy rock band and enjoyed hearing Tony regale the group with stories of St. Vitus Dance. Lynda beamed as she saw him interact with Josh. This might be the one, she thought on that first date, which lasted only one hour.
One date turned into several. Lynda had no qualms about the fact Shore drove a tow truck for a living. She was used to men who had made more of themselves, but she just could not resist Shore’s charms. She found him to be “funny, engaging, and charismatic.” He was also romantic, cordial, and made her feel as if she were the only woman on the entire planet.
Although Lynda felt good about her relationship with Tony Shore, she felt he was rushing things along too quickly. Within just a few months he began to hint constantly about moving in with her, into her comfortable one-story home, located near, ironically, North Shore High School. Lynda kept begging off because she was not quite ready to make that commitment.
One reason she was not quick to agree to cohabitation was that she came across a sheet of paper that mentioned some type of treatment program. She was not sure what it was exactly, but when she asked Shore about the program, he seemed embarrassed and began to tell her about his sexual assault charges.
Lynda sat horrified as he told her what had happened.
Of course he left out one key element to the charges: the truth.
He told Lynda that the charges were bogus and that he had been falsely accused of raping his daughters. He told her he had been framed by his mother. He also claimed his mother tried to extort money from him and that his mother’s behavior stemmed from years of abuse she inflicted on him.
Somehow, Shore convinced Lynda that he was innocent. He even got her to feel sorry for him for being wrongfully accused.
After Shore spun his lies, he gave Lynda an ultimatum: if she did not let him move in with her, he would end their relationship. Lynda agreed and Tony Shore moved his belongings into her home.
The new living arrangements worked out well for the couple. Lynda enjoyed Shore’s company and he treated her kids wonderfully. She described him to her friends as “fun” and said that he had “no temper” and did not even use curse words.
Lynda noticed that Shore took a special liking to her oldest son, Josh. They had music and true crime in common. They also both had drug histories. Lynda stated that her son got hooked on drugs in a bad way, but with Shore’s help, he was able to kick the habit.
After Josh cleaned up, he spent even more time with Shore. He was truly grateful for his mom’s boyfriend’s help. According to Lynda, one time the two men were sitting on the couch talking about true-crime books and serial killers. Josh professed his interest in the case of Ted Bundy, the charismatic, handsome, intelligent serial killer who went on a cross-country killing spree during the late 1970s.
Shore wasn’t impressed with Bundy. He believed Bundy was sloppy and should not have been caught.
“I know how to commit the perfect crime,” he told Josh. “And I can tell you how to get away with it and never get caught.”
Josh laughed and punched Shore in the shoulder as if to say, Yeah, right, Tony. Whatever.
Shore just smiled at the young man.
* * *
Not long after Shore moved in with Lynda, her daughter, Kristin, and her six-month-old grandson moved in with the couple. One of Shore’s probation conditions was that he was not allowed to live with children. He conveniently failed to inform Lynda of this fact.
Shore was also not allowed to consume alcohol, but he did. He was also not allowed to live in a home that had a computer, and, of course, Lynda owned one.
One time Lynda came home from work earlier than usual. She usually got home after Shore did. On this particular occasion she walked in on Shore while he was on the computer surfing the Internet, and he seemed startled when she walked into the room. She glanced at the monitor and noticed he was looking at a Web site for missing persons. She found it rather unusual and asked him why he was looking at the site.
“I’m looking for my daughter,” he replied.
“Your daughter? What do you mean?” Lynda replied.
“My daughter Amber. I’m looking for her. I think I found her,” he said, and pointed at a photo of a young woman. He did not explain himself any further.
Lynda had never seen a photo of either one of his daughters, so she had no idea if the photo was really one of Amber or not. She also failed to ask him why his daughter would be listed as a missing person.
Shore was not allowed to look at or possess any type of pornography. Once again, in Lynda’s home, he blatantly violated his probationary condition. This time it was with a giant box of porn that he kept in Lynda’s garage. He had all sorts of pornographic magazines, from Barely Legal, Chic, and Hustler to Cheri, International, and Live XXX. He had converted Lynda’s garage into his own personal jack shack. Of course he was able to keep it away from Lynda, who had no idea what was up.
The relationship between Shore and Lynda continued to blossom—as he kept his secrets from her. Lynda, however, became very disturbed one night while she and Shore were making love. He had mounted Lynda doggy-style, when suddenly he grabbed her by the throat with his hand. Caught up in the moment, Lynda did not break her rhythm and simply swatted his hand away. Instead of backing off, however, he instinctively reached back up with his hand and encircled it around her throat. He began to squeeze extremely hard.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lynda demanded as she dismounted her lover and knocked his hand away again.
Shore started to laugh as he looked at Lynda. Fully naked, he said to her, “It’s just a predatory thing. Don’t worry. I would never hurt you.”
Lynda nervously laughed it off.
After the rather unusual sexual encounter with her lover, Lynda began to see other strange quirks in his behavior. He seemed to have a fixation on penis size. According to Lynda, he seemed overly concerned with having a small penis. She stated that it wasn’t just an occasional mention or bemoaning, but rather, he brought it up “often.” She stated that he seemed obsessed with his less-than-generous endowment.
Lynda also recalled an unusual incident when she called a plumber over to fix the pipes in the kitchen sink. When she came home, she found Shore curled up in the fetal positi
on in her bedroom closet. He told her he had a terrible headache and needed to block out all the light.
Eventually Lynda started to get fed up with him. She soon learned that he was “immature” and also very “arrogant.” She also called him “antagonistic” and stated that he liked to pick fights with her over trivial details. Shore would argue with Lynda over everything they discussed. Sometimes the couple’s fights were so bad Lynda would storm out of the house and spend the night at a nearby hotel on I-10. She did this on at least three separate occasions.
Shore got to stay in her house.
With her kids.
With her grandson.
Alone.
When Shore and Lynda fought and she took off, he was just as relentless at getting her back home. He would call her on her cell phone. If she did not answer, Shore would hang up and dial again. He would do this for hours until she picked up.
One time, during one of their fights, Lynda recalled a very unusual situation. She and Shore argued and she stormed off, got into her car, and drove to a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store to put gas in her car so she could make it to the hotel. As she stepped out of her vehicle, the entire world started to spin. She stumbled out of the car and could barely shut her car door. A young man in the parking lot saw Lynda and cautiously approached her.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked her.
When she didn’t respond, the man gently grasped her by the arm and asked her again. This time she mumbled something incoherently. The man then asked her where she was staying and Lynda managed to blurt out the name of the hotel where she usually hid away from Shore.
The young man placed Lynda back into her car on the passenger side, took her keys, and jumped into the driver’s side. He fired up the car and took off. Luckily for Lynda, the young man was an upstanding citizen and drove her to the hotel. He even checked her in, paid for her room, took her and her baggage to the room, and left her car keys on a table.
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