By Seamus McGraw
"The lie had just gotten too big"
By the time the trial began, Natasha and Black were trapped, LoMonoco told Stuff. "The lie had just gotten too big."
They knew that if they came forward, they would be prosecuted. What's more, Rutledge says, Black was scheduled to testify against Fraser. If Black swore to the statement he'd signed, it would be perjury.
As LoMonoco put it, Natasha was caught between a rock and hard place. "She's now supposed to be a murder victim and she's been here the whole time. If she comes out now, Scott's going to jail for child stealing. I don't know whether Scott Black is saying 'If you go out, I'm going to jail,' but I imagine they're protecting each other... whatever it is that caused her to run away and not want to be found, Black's protecting her from that," and "from her point of view, she's trying to protect him because she knows he's going to go off to jail if she comes out."
Natasha finally cracked. She called a local teen help line, LoMonoco recalled and pretended to be a young girl named "Sally," who had been hiding in a friend's pantry for four years. She also mentioned in passing that a man, hardly innocent but in this particular case, less than guilty, was about to be convicted of her murder.
The flummoxed volunteer at the other end of the line had no idea what to make of the call, but passed it along to police.
The cops were intrigued, but did not have enough information to go on. "Sally" had not been so overwrought that she let slip any significant details regarding her true identity or her location. Without more specific information, the police decided there was little they could do.
A few days later, Natasha telephoned Benji Elkins, a former boyfriend and confessed. It is another example of the considerable influence Natasha Ryan has on the men in her life that Elkins, who for all intents and purposes had just received a phone call from The Beyond, agreed to keep her secret from her parents and the authorities.
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See Crime Library Feature Story on Leonard John Fraser
See Full Coverage of Tanya Nicole Kach Case
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