Down Hill From Mt. Lemmon
- Amanda Fallon
- Jan 4
- 30 min read
Updated: Jan 6
Episode 1: Don't Call Me Late For Dinner
A Conversation About Survival, Silence, and the Stories That Stay With Us
Content note: This article discusses a real violent crime and sexual assault in a non-graphic, factual manner.
Some stories don’t fade with time. They linger quietly, persistently, in the memories of the people who lived them, witnessed them, or loved someone connected to them. The events that unfolded on Mount Lemmon in July of 1986 are one of those stories.
This episode of Shirley You Can’t Be Serious isn’t just about a crime. It’s about what happens after after the sirens, after the courtrooms, after the headlines move on.
It’s about survivors. Witnesses. Families. And the complicated truth that sometimes, the person capable of unimaginable harm is someone who once seemed completely ordinary.
A Summer Day That Took a Dark Turn
That’s what makes what happened there in 1986 so jarring.
Two women went hiking. Other families were nearby, enjoying an ordinary summer day. Within hours, strangers would be running for help, law enforcement would flood the mountain, and lives would be permanently altered.
What’s striking when listening to this episode is how many people intersected with the event by chance, families who happened to be there, a woman who trusted her instincts, a child who witnessed the aftermath and carried that memory into adulthood.
Survival, in this story, is deeply intertwined with timing and human response.
The Power of Witnesses
One of the most compelling aspects of this episode is how many voices are woven together:
The women who escaped and survived
The people who encountered them while fleeing for help
Law enforcement accounts
And the family of the man who committed the crime
These aren’t polished narratives. They’re fragmented, emotional, sometimes uncertain. And that’s exactly what makes them real.
Memory doesn’t operate like a transcript. It comes in images, sensations, moments that never quite leave. Several witnesses describe not understanding the full gravity of what they were seeing only knowing something was terribly wrong.
That confusion, that instinctive reaction to help before fully processing danger, is a recurring theme.
When the Accused Is Someone You Love
Perhaps the most unsettling thread in this episode is the perspective of the perpetrator’s spouse.
For years, she believed completely that the man she loved could not have done this. She advocated for him. She stood by him. Even after his guilty plea, she struggled to reconcile the man she knew with the crimes he admitted committing.
This isn’t uncommon, though it’s rarely explored honestly.
True crime often flattens people into roles: monster, victim, hero. But real life is messier. This episode allows space for that discomfort without excusing harm or minimizing accountability.
It asks an important question many families of offenders are forced to confront:
How do you grieve the person you thought you knew while accepting the reality of what they did?
The Long Shadow of Violence
Another quiet but powerful element of this story is how long the impact lasted.
Children were teased at school because of headlines. Families relocated. Friendships dissolved. People avoided places they once loved. Some witnesses carried vivid mental images for decades.
One woman didn’t even know for years whether the injured hiker she tried to help survived.
Violence doesn’t end when a sentence is handed down. It echoes, sometimes across generations.
Questions That Still Linger
As the episode unfolds, new layers emerge:
Rumors of other crimes
Investigations in other states
Law enforcement theories about patterns and escalation
Without venturing into speculation, the podcast carefully presents what was said, what was investigated, and what remains unresolved.
And perhaps the most haunting idea raised is this: violent acts rarely begin in isolation or late in life. That reality leaves listeners sitting with questions that may never have full answers.
Why Tell This Story Now?
This episode isn’t about shock value. It’s about recording memory before it disappears.
It's about telling Shirley's story and the unbelievable twists and turns her life took. What happened to the people she loved, cared for and cherished?
It’s about giving voice to people who were tangentially involved but deeply affected. It’s about understanding how ordinary environments can become sites of trauma and how communities respond when they do.
Most of all, it’s about resisting the urge to simplify.
Because the truth is, stories like this don’t fit neatly into categories of good and evil. They live in the gray spaces of human behavior, belief, denial, courage, and survival.
Listening With Care
If you choose to listen to this episode, do so gently. Take breaks if needed. Talk about it afterward. These stories are heavy because they’re real.
But they also remind us of something essential:People helped. People survived. People spoke up, even decades later.
And sometimes, telling the story is part of making sense of what can never fully make sense.
Full Episode Transcript:
Dead Serious. The following episode contains graphic content dealing with sexual assault, attempted murder in the aftermath, may disturbing to some listeners. This story is based on true events. Everything you are about to hear is found in police files, court transcripts, FBI, evidence, news stories, and actual eyewitness accounts.
Just came flying around the corner on a dirt road and, and the lady's window was down and she's screaming, help me, help me. And she just, you could tell something was odd and until she stopped, you didn't realize she was just caked in blood. She rolled her window down. She appeared really upset, and she said that she had been stabbed.
I just know that my dad ran up to the car and my mom started screaming, get in the car, Jamie. Get in the car. But that's what I remember. Went to the Rangers station and that's when all hell broke loose. 9 1 1. Sheriff Department. I'm up at the house, please. I running. Um, we just found a girl, a girlfriend with us.
Um, she was taken by a guy with a gun and a friend is still upstairs. The guy left. We were at Bare. Okay. Where's the girl now? She's with us. She's there at one of the girls is with us, the other girl up on the mountain. We heard a shot shortly after. And then this other girl stop by. Okay. Okay. Calm down.
What's your name, please? My name is Patricia Wells. We drove down to Palisades to try and find help. The ranger station's closed, so I'm in the phone booth. Okay. It was the guy that was in it that, that did this to the woman is a, um, recent new, hold on a second. I should have an officer real close to you.
Let me get him started. Stay on the phone please. Thank you. The arrested man, Steven Elvis Skaggs was booked into the Pima County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, sexual assault, and two counts of kidnapping. I was shocked. I says, what are you talking about? How could they possibly arrest you? And now the story of a blended family with assorted past and my stepmother in the middle of it all.
I'm Amanda Fallon, and this is the Surely You Can't Be Serious Podcast. Describe Skaggs. Like what did he look like? Um, he had dark hair. He was about the same hy as me. He wasn't real tall. He was under six foot, a little bit stocky. He was about five, seven to eight dark short hair cut, real close. He had really weird blue eyes.
Okay. He was overweight and they were giving him a bad time about that. So he was trying to lose some weight. He was, um. Uh, just average looking dark hair, dark eyes. Um, actually he lived about three houses away from me. He was in the military. Him and his wife and two kids bought a house, you know, right down the street from me.
And then his wife left and we just got talking and then we started dating. He was just really a nice person. He was fun to be with, you know, so I felt very comfortable with him. Tucson Medical Center. July 22nd, 1986. 10 45 hours.
Alright, Sharon, a little while ago, I drove up to Mount Lemmon and picked you up and brought you down here to the hospital. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. Um, okay, so he grabbed you. What happened next? He said, I want you to not make any noise and do exactly as I tell you. Okay. And you have a raised area just adjacent to your eye on your temple area?
Yeah. Is that where he hit you? Yes. What happened when he hit you? He told me to be still or otherwise he would kill her and come back and get me. And did you listen to what he said? Yes. I didn't make a noise until I heard the gunshot and then I ripped my hand out of the handcuff and took off running.
Then I thought I heard some talking down further to the right, and so I just hauled down that way. I just ran down and tried to stay as low as I could out of sight 'cause I didn't know if he was after me. We were just going up to have a nice hike on the mountain that day. We, we get outta the car, we walked down a little ways.
We all walked down together. I started to walk down and I'm probably about, probably a hundred yards behind Jan and Fran, I hear this rustling behind me. I turn around and I see this, this redheaded girl, this tear on her face. I could just tell. Then I asked her, I said, oh my God, are you all right? And she says, no.
She says, she says, there's a man up there and he's got my girlfriend. So we got in the car and we went down to the ranger station. It was closed. So we went over to the phone booth and called the police. Okay. Who made the call? Patty. Patty Wells Sheriff's Department. July 29th, 1986. Patricia Ann Wells. Time is now 1153 hours.
Date is the same. Is it all right if I call you Patty? Uh, that's fine. Yeah. Okay. Patty, you went up on Mount Lemmon, is that correct? Yes. And, and are you in a forested area? I go back up to the car to get a beer in my cigarette. Close the door and I hear a gunshot, and it was close. It was close. So I thought to myself, I thought, my gosh, people are even hunting up there.
So I didn't think anything of it. So I continued to walk down the trail. Describe to me what she looked like. Okay. She was, uh, probably about five four. She had thicker, wavy ish hair, shoulder length. I don't remember the color of her eyes, but I mean, she had a, she had a little, a little camisole type T-shirt with a shirt over that all.
And she had a real bad cut on her, on her foot. Okay. So she had no shoes on. No shoes on, okay. She had a, like three bracelets and, and, and a, a handcuff on, but she wasn't crying when I first saw her, but she, I, I could just see the terror in her eyes. All right. Okay. Patricia, Patricia.
Hello. Okay. Who am I speaking with now? Uh, this is Francis. Where did Patricia go? Uh, Patricia went across the street because she's certified in CPR. She went across the street to help the girl who has been stabbed. Okay. We've got medics on the way down there from Mount Lemmon, but I don't know. You, you have to understand that I don't know any of these people.
We, we picked up one girl 'cause she was running towards us. Mm-hmm. The, this man picked up another girl, I don't know how, and, and he just yelled at me. But this man that just pulled up in at Palisades has a girl who has evidently been stabbed. I see her bleeding. Mm-hmm. I mean, you, you know. Okay. Like I said, I've got an ambulance coming down from Mount Lemmon.
Hold on a second. Okay. Okay. And what did you notice about her appearance? Tell me what she looked like at the ranger station When they brought her in, she was bloody from one end to the other. She was stabbed. And did she say anything to you? She was just glad I was. Okay. Okay. Statement will be concluded.
Time is one 10, about 1108 hours. Date is the same. Standard closure. He liked to hunt. That was kind of his passion. He did a lot of flying, uh, checking out different hunting places, and he was gone a lot, you know, doing that. He loved to play baseball. He had friends at the military. He was a fun to be around.
You know, he, um. It was very, very easygoing. Uh, we never had an argument. He was a very, very gentle man. He was never, ever. Forceful or aggressive or hurtful in any way to any of us ever. So this one day, uh, he told me he was going to go up to Mount Lemmon. He had bought a new camera with a big lens and everything, and he liked to do photography.
So he went up to Mount Lemmon and he said he'd be back home. For the baseball game that night, that evening. My name is Sharon Salem, and one day in, uh, July, 1986, I was on Mount Lemmon with my family just for a joy ride. My, my sister had broken her leg and my son and was a day off. We thought, okay, let's just go up there.
Instead of going and working, we were just gonna have some lunch. We used to go up there often, particularly when it snowed.
Hello? Hi, is this Jamie? Yes. Hi, Jamie. My name's Amanda. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if you remember, it's been a couple years. Just to refresh your memory, my stepmom was married to Steven Skaggs, the guy that committed the crime that day. I wasn't there that day, but it has affected my life, you know, just.
Just hearing about it and you were there. Oh, I, I've still got very clear images in my mind of that lady flying up in her car, just caked in blood. I mean, and the, the stab wounds in her back. I mean, I reme, I was very, very vivid. Mount Lemmon was one of my childhood places. We, we went up. You know, every other weekend almost, it seemed like it's got a, got a special place in my heart.
Especially with my dad, you know? So, yeah. Well, we'd wake up and my dad would be like, it's snowed. Let's go. We're going to Mount Lemmon. I'd be like, sweet. We'd jump up and go up there and sled and then go eat a burger at the little, well that burned down, but they had that little, uh, country bar right there that had wood shavings all over the floor and stuff.
My dad used to take us in there and eat a burger and he'd drink his beer and talk all his crap. You were, 'cause you were only 10 years old and I remember you were driving up. The mountain with your family, right? Well, I mean it was, we were already up there, so we were at like a picnic area and I don't know exactly where it's at.
It's before you get off, you know, get up to the main two towns where it splits off to where you ski or you can go down to where like the community is and stuff. At the top of that hill is a bunch of like picnic areas. We were sitting there talking and this blue car drives up and um, there was a. A young person.
I think she was probably in her, I don't know how old. Anyway, she told us she rolled her window down. She appeared really upset and she said that she had been stabbed and that tied up. We were starting to pack up and as we were starting to pack up a car, uh, like a two 80 Z or something, that's what I remember it looking like.
'cause they were popular back then. Just came flying around the corner and on a dirt road and, and the lady's window was down and she's screaming, help me, help me. And she just, you could tell something was odd and until she stopped, you didn't realize she was just caked in blood. Like her face was matted in blood.
Her hair was matted in blood. And, and, um. My I, I mean, I don't remember what my mom said or what. I just know that my dad ran up to the car and my mom started screaming, get in the car, Jamie, get in the car. She was terrified. Yes, but she had enough about her where I told my husband. To get her out of the car.
I said, you come with us to get her out of the car and get her in the backseat. And she was talking the whole time saying, I have to help my friend. But I remember my mom putting her in the middle of the backseat. We had like a station wagon type car and pulling her shirt up her back, like leaning her forward and pulling it up and seeing, uh, knife, uh, stab marks.
Little stab marks and my mom put, I don't remember what it was, if it was a towel or a blanket or something we had for our little picnic thing and just kind of pushed down on it to stop the bleeding. It wouldn't get, or whatever she did. And we put a jacket on her and I just, I had a sense of urgency. We need to leave right away and find help for her.
And besides get away from that area. Just marks all over her back and we put a, we put a jacket over her to help her with that when she was in the car. I mean, I can picture that, you know, sitting there telling my husband to get her out of the car, put a jacket on her and leaving quickly and to get help for her.
That's what I remember. Went to the Rangers station and that's when all hell broke loose helicopters came in. I think they met a factor out, if I remember correctly, and, and interviewed us a little bit and, um, let us know that they had found her friend and brought her to the station. And, and um, that's pretty much the extent of what I remember visually.
You know, seeing in my head and, and and experiencing now, could some of it be a little bit off? Yeah. But the majority of it's, it's pretty imprinted in my mind. And, uh, then thinking afterwards, my goodness, he could have run out of the woods and shot us. You know, you don't, but you think of all that stuff after.
But I hope I've been a little help. It's just, I'm just, I'm old now. My 10-year-old son, you know, he was with us and it. Apparently, well, it did impact him, but we, we kind of went on with our lives. There was just a lot of chaos. I just remember I was kind of in the background just watching what was going on.
Um, again, I was so young. I was more, I don't even think I was in shock over the situation. I was more in shock over seeing all the blood. Um, but to me it was an, you know, an emergency and I don't know, I, I don't know that I was really focusing on what was going on other than just being an amazement that all of this is really happening and, you know, we were part of it.
When we dropped her off, we did know that he was caught. So that was, that was really a comforting thing to know. So basically after that we just, we went on with our lives. We were, I'm just very happy we were there to help her. It was happened so quickly and we had to get away from there and get help for her.
And then afterwards, you know, when you go through something like that, you always, you know, you always kind of. Make your own scenario, like, oh my gosh, he had a gun. What if he would've run out of the woods? You know, when we were sitting there helping her? It makes you think, it makes you think, I mean, even, even the fact that, how did we know that she was telling the truth?
You know, she could have been with someone else. I mean, it was just, ah. You think of a lot of things after, after the fact, you react to help somebody or you react to, to protect somebody, or you react to get yourself away from danger, and then you think about the consequences. You don't think about it when it's happening.
How freaking lucky is that, right? I mean, I mean, those are the odds that everybody ran into somebody. I mean, holy. And just the fact that she was shot and stabbed and she could drive her freaking car to us. I mean, I mean, that's amazing. So anyway, uh. I am waiting. He's running late. They're calling from the baseball team saying, where is he?
He's one of their stars. I mean, he was good at baseball and they were losing. He said, where is he? Tell him to get over here. Then I get a call from him saying, Shirley coming down from Mount Lemmon. I got. Arrested. There was a, uh, attempted murder up there, and the guy who did it looked like me, and so they arrested me and I was devastated.
I was totally and completely shocked. Totally shocked when I got the news that he supposedly had raped and attempted to kill someone. I absolutely did not believe it. They took him to jail and then I went to visit him and, uh. And they explained what happened. And like I said, I said, well, they got the wrong man.
They got the wrong what? What? And then I saw the picture in the paper, this other guy that they'd been looking for up there. Um, and I said, that's the guy. That's the guy. Why aren't they looking for him? Why aren't you know? And I was positive that was the man who had done the murder. And I was constantly after, you know, the police to check out this other man, which they didn't seem to be doing anything about.
There is no way on the face of the Earth, I would have believed it. He, um, like I said, he was very, very good to me. He was very, very caring and, um. To think that he could do something like that was just, um, unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. But, um, I was absolutely positive that Steve Skaggs did not hurt anyone.
Absolutely. Positive Bond was set at $500,000 yesterday for Stephen Elvis Skaggs 38, who was charged with abducting two women on Mount Lemmon Tuesday and raping and stabbing one of them. Sergeant Kathleen Brennan, a spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff's Department, said Scags is a master sergeant assigned to the 355th Component repair squadron at Davis.
I hired an attorney and uh, it went on for months, you know, the preparation for the trial. And all this time I absolutely believed that he was innocent completely. And then the day of the morning of the trial. I got a call from the attorney and the attorney said he's going to plead guilty. And I says, what are you talking about?
What do you mean he's gonna plead guilty? He's not guilty. And he said, yes, he is. And I, I was absolutely devastated. I absolutely could not believe those words. So then I go to the trial that day, you know, and that was just totally, completely devastating.
Your Honor, the state calls Sharon Warner. Do you see the man that accosted you at gunpoint on July 22nd in the courtroom today? Yes. Right there. And what happened? That's when he came up behind me and put his arm around my neck and a gun to my head. And to listen to what happened. To see the girl that he had attacked, he had raped her, and then he had stabbed her numerous times in the back.
I didn't see the pictures. Okay. And you were facing him? Yeah. How long did you have his penis in your mouth? Do you remember? Just long enough. So he got an erection, it seemed like there were two girls he took on handcuffed one to a tree, and then he took the other one in the back where he, uh, further down the trail where he raped her and, um, stabbed her.
Did you hear anything that was going on? No. So you were, you were lying on your stomach and he tied your hands up Uhhuh. All right. By inside you, you mean he put his penis in your vagina? Yeah. When he was having intercourse with you, did he still have the gun in his hand? I didn't wanna look at him. And when you heard the gunshot, what did you think?
I just assumed that he had shot her and then he ran off and the one was able to break loose from the tree and get help, and they were able to get to the other girl. You know, before she died of all the, you know, uh, wounds to her back. So they both survived the state calls to the stand. Shirley Jean Skaggs.
Okay. You've heard, uh, what Sharon Warner testified to Uhhuh. Um, does that conduct sound like something you've ever seen Mr. S Skaggs ever do at your house? No. I was, I was thoroughly shocked when I heard that he had admitted to doing it. His nature is very gentle, very kind, very considerate, very loving.
And for him to do something like that, which was terrible, he must have, there must have been so much turmoil and pain in him to ever hurt another person. I, I don't know. Uh, and just because your husband is your husband, you wouldn't lie for him or anything like that. No, I wouldn't. And you still heavily support him, is that correct?
Yes. I told him I would stay with him through no matter what it takes. Uh, what do you think should happen to your husband? I know that he needs psychiatric help. I, I know that, and I know that he has committed a crime and I know that he has to pay for that. I just pray that the judge will be merciful and see that he does get the help he needs so that he can return to society.
Okay. 19 years in the military with a spotless record going on 38 years old. And he's never, ever done anything like that. And I think that background needs to be considered. Uh, okay. If he were released, you would be sticking with him, is that correct? That's right. Um, I don't have any other questions at this time.
An Air Force sergeant accused of attempted murder pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and sexual assault on two female hikers. Master Sergeant Steven Skaggs pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and sexual assault in the July 22nd attack on the hikers, one of whom was raped, shot and stabbed.
The attack occurred on Mount Lemmon near Tucson. A charge of attempted first degree murder was dropped. He's facing a prison term of up to 84 years when he is sentenced. May 8th. Nope, I don't remember him crying. I just, well, he knew he was guilty. He knew he was guilty, so no. Yeah. Did you know that he had, I mean, I know you knew he had like knives and guns 'cause he was a hunter.
Oh, sure. Yeah. Did you know that he had like handcuffs? No. No. I didn't know about the handcuffs. No. A 36 year prison sentence was imposed yesterday on an Air Force Master Sergeant who raped, stabbed, and shot a woman on Mount Lemmon last summer while her friend was handcuffed to a tree. Stephen Elvis Skaggs 38 must serve 31 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Said Superior Court Judge Gilbert Valise. The victims of the attack were present during the sentencing. Skaggs, who was handcuffed and shackled during the hearing, turned to them and said he was sorry. Actually, I stayed with him for seven years after this happened. I went out and, uh, visited him every Sunday, you know, drove out to Florence Prison and, um, if you got there early, you could get inside.
But they only had so many. Tables inside, and there's one time I went and I spent the whole night parked outside that prison so I could get inside and darn if the person in front of me got the last table. And so I still had to sit outside a hundred degrees under the ramada. Yeah. After spending the whole night sleeping in the car, outside the prison, it was just like an outside picnic area and you would just, you know, and you could walk around and hold hands.
Oh yeah, Uhhuh, but that's it. No, nothing more than, and you could, I think, a kiss goodbye, I think. Forget it. You know, my friends at work, they, they knew, he, they thought he worked at the prison. I didn't tell everybody he was a prisoner, you know? I said, oh, he worked. 'cause he did, he worked, you know, had to s guard at the prison.
So a lot of 'em just thought I was there. What did the guard at the prison and then, so I finally told him, no, he was the prisoner because it's embarrassing telling you someone, your husband's in for rape. Yeah. He had a garden. You know, so he was doing a garden and he was, um, I took the memory typewriter and they weren't allowed to have, um, uh, computers at the time, but he had the memory typewriter.
So, you know, he would use that. They watched a lot of tv. They ate well. I mean, he was eating better than I was eating. And, uh, no, he didn't have any complaints at all. Nobody bothered him. So he wasn't depressed or. No, he had made friends there. I'd met all of his friends, you know, all the other inmates.
Actually there were a couple, I really liked a couple young boys that stole a car and made a mistake and I really, they were being raped and stuff in prison. I felt really bad for this. There was two boys in particular I really liked. In fact, I took to introduce her to one of them. I really liked him. And he did get out and he straightened up.
He said he did it on a dare. He didn't even need the car. He said it was stupid. And then another, there was another young boy that did the same thing. So there were two, two kids there that I really had a heart for, you know. I would go to church with him on Sunday. That's how I got to meet the other, uh, inmates, because after church, you know, they'd all come over and he'd introduce them and on their way back to the cell, you know, and then I went, they had, um, like potlucks sometimes after church, and then I would meet some of the guys there, you know, so I knew his friends.
Yeah. But, um. Yeah. Yeah, he was going to church, but then a whole lot of them were too, you know, the women's husbands in my, in the Bible study group. Yeah. All their husbands were going to church. There's so many guys, you know, when they go in prison, they all go to church, make it look good so they can, you know, when they come up for a release or, you know, uh, parole that looks good on their parole list.
So a whole lot of 'em do that. And then when they get home. Forget church. Yeah. Yeah. This, um, they learned to play the game, you know, sad. It's really sad. It's really sad for the women. I feel sorry for 'em. Was Skaggs ever being beat up or was he doing any beating up, or No? Oh no. He was not violent at all.
And um, and a lot of people lied and said what they, if they were there for, uh, that type of a crime, usually they didn't let the other people know. At that time it was harder to find out what you were there for and, oh, oh, I met another lady who was there, her husband, supposedly he was in for theft, but he was in for rape.
Rape, her daughter, you know. And he was a, and he was a, he was a preacher. And, um, I met him and I met his wife and her and I became somewhat friends. And then finally the light went on in her head and she divorced him. And I didn't see her after that. She didn't come anymore. You told me you ran a women's Bible ministry.
Uh, yes I did. What was, describe that. Okay. That was here in Tucson. Um, I joined it to start with. And then after a year they asked me if I would take it over. 'cause the lady who was leading it didn't have the background. She was just a teacher. She didn't have anyone in in prison. She felt that it would be more, um, easier.
And it would go better because I had the experience, I'd been where these women were. So this is, uh, and I was where those women were. This was a special bible study group just for women whose husbands were, were in in prison. Yeah. Uh, or sons. A couple of the ladies had a son in prison. Um, and so there was about a dozen of us.
That we'd get together once a week and then once a month we'd have a big potluck and stuff like that, you know? And I really made some good friends there. I really liked some of those women. But you know what I found out as the husbands came out. They went back to their old ways, they went back to the drugs, they went back to beating up the kids and beating up their wives.
And so the women that I was the closest to, they had to put in protective custody, you know, and um, witness protection. Witness protection. And then I never heard from them again. And that was hard because there was a couple that I really, really had gotten close to. Mm-hmm. One was a real sweetheart with five little kids, and I felt so bad for her.
I really liked her. I, I actually, I liked all of them. Mm-hmm. You know, we became really good friends, but then it came to the point where I couldn't encourage them to stay anymore, and then that's when I start looking at, I don't want to stay, and then I, I left.
Um, there's numerous letters that were sent into a judge from Friends and Carol. Mm-hmm. Just saying there's no way. Right, right. Oh, she didn't, didn't believe it. She was, she couldn't even talk. She said, I, I have to call you back. She, she couldn't believe it. And they had two kids together and they had two kids, Uhhuh, two kids and two dogs.
She took the dogs and he got the kids. And, uh, their mom did call me at one time. She was really concerned about Danny. Danny was having a really rough time. Oh, they, yeah, it was devastating. In fact, I felt really bad for Danny. Um, he was getting teased at school. It was all over the newspaper, the Mountain Lemon Rapist.
It was all over the newspaper. Kids were giving him a bad time at school, and I let him. Stopped going to school until it got cleared up. I says, you know, you can go to summer school and make it up, because the kids were giving him a really, really bad time. He had a couple really good friends that were there for him, but a lot of the kids weren't, and it wasn't fair to him.
And then when we found out he was guilty, that's when he went to live with his mom. And uh, she did ask. Now this was, um, well we were still together. If the kids can go out and go and talk to their dad in prison, they needed closure. On what happened, especially Leslie. And so they came and stayed with me for the weekend and I took them out to the prison, but he really wouldn't answer any of their questions.
He just said, oh, that was in the past. It's over. He is got his life right with God. He kept emphasizing that and I don't know if they continued keeping in contact with him or not. I really don't know. 'cause I, I, I didn't keep in contact with him. It's just a part of my life. I just didn't want to. Don't think about it anymore.
Did he ever talk to you about his childhood or any stories from his childhood that stand out? You know, not that. I remember one time he said he got mad and he hit someone with a ball bat when he was young. That's the only thing I remember. Some boy, I don't know. No prior arrest? Oh no. Did he ever get in trouble with the law?
No. Oh no. He had a clean record, very clean record. You know, uh, he loved his mom. He'd do anything for me, for his mom. I think his dad died fairly young 'cause I don't remember him ever talking about his dad, you know? But he was close with his brother. So, I dunno. How did you break the news to Skaggs that you were I told him that you better start praying because I'm having problem with what's going on and I'm going to counseling and I'm not doing well with, with.
Us being together and he, he, he was upset about that. Yeah. You know, I know there's a spiritual world out there, and sometimes people open themselves to demonic activity. I don't know how I, I don't know. But I do believe that there was demonic activity in his life, that he had a split. I don't know what causes a split personality.
I don't know when it happened, but I definitely believe he had a split personality. And um, you know, one was good and one was obviously very evil. Good side. I only saw the good side. His whole family only saw the good side. You know, even afterwards, I never saw the bad side ever. I talked to him about it and he said, you know that he didn't have his life right with God at the time, but he did now and this would never ever happen again.
I said, were there any others? And he said, he did admit. He says, okay. I told God I wouldn't lie to you anymore. And yeah, I had an affair with this one lady at work and he told me about her. But as far as any other of that type of thing, he said, no. When I asked him a little bit later about it, if there were any others, I wasn't comfortable with his answer.
I felt he was lying. I really felt that wasn't the only one. And the more I thought about that, that started bothering me. And then seven years, you know, into, you know, me going back and forth visiting. He told me he was coming up for parole and there's a possibility he might be getting out. And that terrified me.
I thought, I don't wanna be with him. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. And I thought, and so I started going to counseling and my counselors mostly at the church said, why are you even with him? You don't have a marriage. You know, you do not have to stay. And uh, so I really prayed about it, and then I decided I was not going anymore.
I was letting it go and getting a divorce. And he, he was angry.
Hello? Hello, can you hear me? Who is this? Hi, this is Amanda. I'm looking for a Patty Wells that was on Mount Lemmon in 1986. Oh, it was me. That's you? Yeah. Oh my gosh. I've been trying to find you for like two years. That's so weird. I was thinking about that about about a month and a half ago. I have to get off.
Hold on. Okay, hold on. Okay,
hold on. I gotta find a safe place to pull over. I'm on I 10. Okay. Here's the accident. June 6th, 2025. Hi Patty, it's Amanda. Hi Amanda. Hi. Is now a good time to chat? Sure, sure. Is it good for you? Yep. Yep. Right now works. This is perfect. Um, okay. Like I said, I am so excited that I found you. So my stepmother, her name was Shirley, and in 1986 she was married to Steven Skaggs, and Steve was the man who committed the crime against the two female hikers that day.
And she was married to him at the time. Yes. Oh my God. Yeah. Oh God. Oh God, I'm so sorry. Oh yeah, it's a crazy story. So about five years ago, I started recording her, um, and recording her life stories. And obviously what happened that day on Mount Lemmon was, was a big one. Okay. Um, my name is Patricia Wells, uh, or Patty.
I am giving, um, some testimony to my involvement of being on Mount Lemmon in July of 1986 when we went to hike with two of my other friends, uh, Jan. And, um. A Fran and we encountered, um, a distressed person with just absolute terror on their face. Um, I'd gone back to the car, uh, to grab a cigarette and uh, and a beer, and I heard a gunshot and.
I thought that was really weird and I had seen that truck kind of just like not parked to the side, but kind of right in the, uh, more in the middle, like haphazardly. Uh, parked in the road and then, so then that, that gunshot put me on alert and I'm thinking, oh my goodness. I mean, it's July. Why is there a gunshot?
And then I see, um, Sharon. Coming up with, uh, no one handcuff on one hand, no shoes, and, um, just, just terror. Terror in her eyes. And, um. She told me what happened, that her and her friend were there and this man was, uh, trying to hurt them and he was still there. And so I got my friends and said, you know, everybody get down.
We, we gotta, this is horrible. And we went and just like see, and we were trying to figure out where her friend was, if maybe we could, uh, intervene in some way or just to. Get help right away. And, um, of course we didn't have phones back in 1986 and, uh, I just remember, I guess that we had got back in Jan's car and I said, you know, the nearest place where they'll have a phone is that the, the ranger station.
And then, and then after that, I really don't remember. I don't remember anything. I don't even remember talking face to face with the police at all at that point. And then I just remember, I'm sure it was much later we were coming down of course, 'cause there's only one way down that we knew they'd gotten to help and, uh, and stuff.
And that we saw that they had apprehended him. And we, I actually saw him on to the side with law enforcement and he was in handcuffs and that they had caught him and that he wasn't gonna hurt anybody else.
I didn't know what happened to them. I mean, I kept up on it as long as I was there, but I left and then, so I never knew, I never even knew that they were okay. And. Uh, well, not okay, but that they, you know, uh, survived. You know, she survived. So you've lived all these years not knowing if she survived or not?
No, no. I did not know. Do, do you still keep in contact with Jan and Fran? No, I don't know. I would love to find them. No, no. We lost contact. It's very, it's very weird, but I mean, I have faith and it, I, I, it's so many times I've been put in the position, um, to help, um, and sometimes as a victim, but, um, but I, I believe in, in God and, and.
And, um, God's always been there and there's a reason. I'm just so glad they survived and he was caught 30 years. Doesn't seem like enough. I'm sorry, but I hope to God he's never hurt anyone else. And I, I'm sorry that you had to live with the trauma. Oh my goodness. You are stepmom. Oh, I just can't even imagine.
I just, and the children. Oh, I just can't even imagine. What did he say in the trial? Well, and why didn't anybody try to get ahold of me?
Skaggs, who was handcuffed and shackled during the hearing turned to them and said he was sorry. I know I caused you many problems. Don't think of everyone that you think of me. Try to be happy in your life. Try to live a normal life. I won't. I won't be around.
Still to come. Joan Marie Archer 25, A petite blonde dog trainer, found serenity in early morning bicycle rides, so when she didn't return from an early morning ride, April 27th, 1986. Her family knew something was wrong. I did not know about another homicide in Tucson. I did not know if he was, there was rumors as time went on that he was connected to some homicides or murders in Alaska.
And I don't know whether that was true or not, but I did not follow him. I did not follow and see, I know he'd been caught. They said, they said he was a Marine and then therefore, oh my goodness. So he could have been doing this for a long time. And then when the police had told me that they really believed he was a serial killer, they said a person 40 years old.
Does not start something like this at 40 years old. This is something that starts way back when they're a lot younger. Someone doesn't, at 40 years old go out and do this. That just doesn't happen. Alaska authorities are investigating the man in connection with 18 similar cases in that state. In fact, they said if he got off of this one, they were going to extradite him to Alaska because there was a couple cases up there that they felt he was involved in.
I, I guess not to fear monger, make anybody, but you really never know who you're with. You, you never, you really never know what people you love are capable of. Can I, can you answer some questions for me? Is it true that they tried to connect him to some homicides in Alaska? This is where the DNA would come in.
What is his name? Steven What?
Hello? Hi. Is this Steve?
Yes.
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