This amazing and brave woman, Candy, was on a beach when she was approached byCollier. The pair immediately bonded. “It was a whirlwind,” Candy told ABC News. “We it it off that day. … It was really quick. He was very charming, a smooth talker, sweet, you know, funny.” Both Candy and Collier had recently moved for a fresh start and the timing of their meeting felt perfect. “I was looking for someone to share my life with,” Candy said. “I was just missing a significant other that I really wanted.”
The pair also learned that they had both experienced a great loss. “I’d been through a lot of tough times, lots of deaths in my family,” Candy said. “That first day at the beach, he told me that his parents had been killed in a tragic car accident by drunk drivers. He had always felt like he was missing something.” What she didn’t know at the time, however, was that while Collier’s parents were deceased, his story wasn’t true. Collier regularly left the staet to visit his son, ex-wife, and friends. Candy also learned, eventually, that he had another daughter that he hadn’t been in contact with for about six years. He had reconnected with her, though, and Candy was supportive.
“I do care about his daughter,” she said. “She’s a very nice young lady.” His daughter, Nicole, felt the same way about Candy. “It was very neat to see that,” Nicole said. “I mean, my dad was getting his life back on track, settling down, hopefully for good.” Collier revealed eventually that his parents — the ones who died in the car crash — were his adoptive parents and that he had been in contact with his birth parents. Shortly after, he told Candy that he was no longer speaking to his mother. As it turns out, Collier stopped talking to his mother because she had uncovered a dark secret. In 1983, police received a tip and went to a home on an isolated road in the small town. When they arrived at the home, they found a gruesome scene that shocked even some veteran officers. On the back porch of the home was the body of Hans, who had been shot five times. The body of Sally, who was stabbed to death, had been placed in a shed behind the home with a rosary laid on her body.
Upstairs, inside the house, was the body of 11-year-old Perry, who had been stabbed more than 25 times. The culprit behind the crime was 14-year-old Peter. Peter later changed his name to become Collier. Police eventually found and apprehended the murderous teen. Despite his disturbing crimes, the state law at the time said that the teen could only be prosecuted as a juvenile. He pleaded no contest to the murder of his parents and served just over one year per murder. In 1987, he was released from the school and left as a free man. He later changed his name and moved to a different, where he met Candy. His birth mother didn’t know about his horrific crimes. She became suspicious and hired a private investigator to look into his past.
The private investigator uncovered the dark truth. After the couple split, Collier began sending her emails that became darker and more threatening over time. She decided at one point to call his birth mother to find out if there was something wrong with her ex-boyfriend. Collier reportedly blamed Candy for exposing his past. He sent her an email saying, “What comes around goes around, so just remember that.”