It Helped Save His Life

The December 22, 1999, issue of “Awake!” featured the cover subject “Kidnapping—Why a Global Threat.” William Louis Terrell said that this issue of “Awake!” helped save his life.

SHORTLY after ten o’clock on the morning of Friday, March 10, 2000, Terrell was kidnapped at gunpoint from his home by Joseph C. Palczynski, Jr. The Awake! articles, which Terrell said that he kept recalling during his ordeal, contained the following advice from experts about what to do if kidnapped:

“Be cooperative; avoid obstinate behavior. Antagonistic hostages are more often subjected to harsh treatment, and they run a greater risk of being killed or singled out for punishment.

“Do not panic. Keep in mind that most victims survive the kidnapping.”

“Engage in small talk if possible and try to establish contact. If the kidnappers see you as an individual, they will be less likely to harm or kill you.

“Make them [the kidnappers] aware of your needs in a polite manner.”

“Interaction has served as a protection to the kidnapped, as the book Criminal Behavior explains: ‘The more the victim and the captor get to know one another, the more they tend to like one another. This phenomenon indicates that after a period of time the offender is less likely to harm the hostage.’”

William Terrell, who is 53 years old and one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, did his best to follow such advice during the nearly 14 hours he was held hostage, much of the time at gunpoint. The ordeal began shortly after Palczynski knocked on Terrell’s door in a rural area near Interstate Highway 95, where the vehicle Palczynski had stolen ran out of gas.

After hearing the stranger’s plight, Terrell expressed a desire to help him. Palczynski asked for a glass of water and for a ride to  Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Terrell said he would arrange for someone to drive him to the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he could catch a bus the rest of the way. When Terrell turned with a glass of water for the stranger, a gun was pointed at him. Palczynski ordered Terrell to drive him to his destination.

Following the Advice

During the drive along I-95, Terrell followed Palczynski’s directions to maintain the speed limit and not to drive in any way that would draw attention to them. Remaining calm, Terrell engaged 31-year-old Palczynski in conversation, expressing genuine interest in him as a person and in the circumstances that led to their meeting. Palczynski related that three days earlier he had gone to see his girlfriend Tracy, who had broken up with him. There he shot and killed two of her friends and a neighbor who attempted to interfere with his taking Tracy with him. Later Tracy escaped.

The following evening, during Palczynski’s efforts to hijack a vehicle, a two-year-old child was struck by one of his bullets, shattering the child’s jaw. A car driven by Jennifer Lyn McDonel was also hit. Sadly, a bullet killed her, and another struck their one-year-old child’s empty car seat. Jennifer and her husband, Thomas, were on their way to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where both of them were to present assigned parts at the meeting that evening. Sarah Francis, Jennifer’s mother, explained: “That’s the only night they did not take that baby to the Kingdom Hall. [Otherwise] we would have two of them to mourn.”

As Terrell continued gently to engage his abductor in conversation, Palczynski said that he had never intended to hurt anyone and that he really loved Tracy and wanted to be with her. Terrell explained: “I told him that he couldn’t change the past but that he could change the future, and I encouraged him to turn himself in. I told him I would come to visit him in prison and study the Bible with him.” Later it was reported that since finishing high school in 1987, Palczynski had spent all but ten months of his life in prison or mental-health institutions or on probation.

Using his experience as a long-time Christian elder, Terrell continued to appeal to the disturbed young man by using true-life examples from the Bible. For instance, he told the experience of a good man, Israel’s King David, who became obsessed with the wife of Uriah, one of the soldiers in David’s army. When the woman became pregnant by David, he saw to it that Uriah died in battle. When David’s sins were tactfully presented to him, he sincerely repented and regained God’s favor.—2 Samuel 11:2–12:14.

Terrell established a rapport with the fugitive, calling him by his nickname Joby. When they stopped at a store and Terrell was sent to purchase food and a portable television, Palczynski said he would kill more people if he tried to warn anyone. Realizing the fugitive’s unstable condition, Terrell complied. Eventually, after watching a broadcast about Palczynski’s crimes on the 11 o’clock news, Palczynski hugged Terrell and slipped out into a Baltimore suburb.

About a week later, Palczynski was cornered in a house where he was holding hostages. Terrell, whom the fugitive had spoken about, was called in to help with negotiations. Unfortunately, these were unsuccessful, and on March 22, Palczynski was shot to death by police who stormed the residence. No one else was hurt.

Afterward Terrell obtained about 600 copies of the issue of Awake! that he credits with helping to save his life. He has shared hundreds of these with others. Terrell is grateful that he has made it a habit to read the valuable information in Awake!, and we feel that you will be too.

[Picture on page 26]

William Terrell