Unmasking the Monster

Lester Holt (0:00)

Tonight, on Dateline.

Dana Beatty (0:02)

To this day, I call him the monster, because that is exactly what he is. He took the butcher knife, took it to my throat, and he just said, shh, I knew what was going to happen next.

Blayne Alexander (0:16)

This is an unbelievably brutal crime.

Charlie Beaver (0:18)

It's the worst I've ever investigated. He was waiting in the shadows when she came in.

SPEAKER_5 (0:23)

It was just so frightening.

Charlie Beaver (0:25)

There was a handwritten note. It said, no police, I'll be back, Ms. IBM.

Dana Beatty (0:31)

Sheer terror. He knows that I work for IBM. I'm like, oh my god, do I know him?

Blayne Alexander (0:37)

Months turned into years, no arrests.

Andra Beatty (0:39)

There was no trace.

Blayne Alexander (0:40)

You are the one who got this case reopened.

Andra Beatty (0:42)

If you know my mom, it's impossible not to fight for her. Somebody has to, like, light a fire.

Jeff Smallwood (0:50)

There was one Hail Mary that we could try.

Julie Garcia (0:52)

Hand sweating, heart beating, it had all come down to this.

Jeff Smallwood (0:56)

Did you know her?

Eric McIntosh (0:57)

You didn't see her that day?

Fred Tanzer (0:59)

It feels like you're investigating me.

Dana Beatty (1:02)

Never, ever, a million years would have thought it would have been him.

Lester Holt (1:07)

A harrowing attack, a haunting crime, and the mother and daughter bond that solved the mystery at last. I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline.

Here's Blayne Alexander with Unmasking the Monster.

SPEAKER_11 (1:36)

There's my best daughter, Lola.

Dana Beatty (1:38)

First day on a beach.

Blayne Alexander (1:41)

For as long as she can remember, Andra Beatty has felt lucky to have a mom like hers.

SPEAKER_5 (1:47)

That's perfect, sweetie. Look at that.

Andra Beatty (1:49)

Loving and just kind of the kindest person I know. And that was always apparent just in spite of everything.

Blayne Alexander (2:00)

Everything. As a little girl, Andra never quite knew what that meant, but she did feel it.

A dark chapter from her mother's past that managed to creep into their everyday lives.

Andra Beatty (2:13)

We were the only family I knew that locked all of our doors and closed the garage and set our alarm.

Blayne Alexander (2:20)

The mystery loomed over her childhood, not knowing exactly what had stolen so much from her mom, from all of them.

Andra Beatty (2:28)

I definitely remember thinking, there's no way I leave this world not knowing the answer to that question.

Blayne Alexander (2:36)

Because sometimes a daughter doesn't just carry her mother's story. Sometimes she has the power to rewrite it.

Andra Beatty (2:44)

Somebody has to light a fire.

Blayne Alexander (2:46)

And you lit that fire.

Andra Beatty (2:47)

Yeah.

Blayne Alexander (2:52)

Cincinnati, 1989 What was life looking like for you back then?

Dana Beatty (2:58)

It was an opportunity to grow up.

Blayne Alexander (3:02)

Dana was 29 and living on her own.

Dana Beatty (3:05)

I got very involved in the city. It felt like home to me. I was always outside running. I was a big aerobics girl.

Blayne Alexander (3:13)

And she was excelling in her career at IBM. In the late 80s, early 90s, you could easily impress somebody by saying you worked at IBM.

Dana Beatty (3:23)

It honestly was the Facebook, the Meta, the Google of today.

Blayne Alexander (3:30)

Dana was one of just a few women in the sales division.

Andra Beatty (3:33)

She was a rock star. She was the friend that if anyone was going to be the CEO of their company, it was going to be her.

Blayne Alexander (3:41)

Nancy Eichholz met Dana while volunteering.

Andra Beatty (3:44)

We were both career women at a time where, you know, most of our friends had gotten married right out of college. And so we kind of watched out for each other.

Blayne Alexander (3:53)

Would you say that Dana had a lot of admirers?

Andra Beatty (3:55)

Oh, she did.

SPEAKER_5 (3:56)

Male and female in a good way.

SPEAKER_11 (3:59)

Hi, Dana. It's Nancy. Call me when you get back from exercising.

Blayne Alexander (4:03)

Dana's answering machine captured a life in full swing.

SPEAKER_11 (4:07)

Thought maybe we could just get together for a pizza or a beer or whatever.

SPEAKER_12 (4:13)

Hello, Dana. Remember me?

Dana Beatty (4:15)

I was living an incredible life. I was having the time of my life.

SPEAKER_5 (4:20)

And then that came to a screeching halt.

Dana Beatty (4:22)

And then my life took the most horrific and tragic turn that I would have never in a million years ever imagined.