Three Shackled Women Freed From Basement

PHILADELPHIA —  Three nude women were found chained to a sewer pipe Wednesday in the basement of a row house and police said they found body parts elsewhere in the house that may represent two bodies.

A fourth woman escaped from the house during the night and summoned police, who said the women, aged 18 to 24, may have been chained for up to three months.

Neighbors said they had complained to police about noise and a smell of burning flesh, but police said they had no record of such complaints.

Police Charge Suspects

Gary Heidnik, 43, who lived in the row house for about two years, was arrested and charged with rape, kidnaping and aggravated assault. He later was charged with murder after investigators, acting on information from one of the captives, found the nude body of a woman buried under leaves and twigs in New Jersey.

A second suspect who allegedly participated in the plot with Heidnik was arraigned on similar charges late Wednesday and held without bail. A court officer identified the man as Cyril Brown, 31, of Philadelphia. No further information was immediately available about Brown.

Authorities tentatively identified the dead woman found in New Jersey as Debbie Johnson, 23. The unidentified witness told police that Heidnik forced the woman into a hole in his basement, filled it with water and electrocuted her. A New Jersey medical examiner was trying to confirm her identity and cause of death.

One of the women held in the basement, Lisa Thomas, 19, said she believed two women she knew only by first names died there. She said she lost 40 to 50 pounds through the ordeal.

“He was digging holes on the ceiling to hang us for punishment,” she said. Handcuffs were placed through loops that would suspend the women above the ground, she added.

‘Beat Us Half to Death’

Thomas also told of sexual abuse and beatings. “He beat us half to death,” she said. “He fed us dog food and dog biscuits. He dug screwdrivers in our ears for us not to hear him.”

Thomas said at first she went willingly with the man, who she said had a flashy car and a lot of money.

Rosa Sauris, who visits her son in the neighborhood, said there were “a lot of girls going in and out” of the row house. “One was always with him,” she said. “We never saw some of them come out.”

Three of the women were taken to Episcopal Hospital, where one was treated and released. The other two were in stable condition, suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, a spokesman said.