Jaycee Likely to Testify Against Garridos

Kidnap victim deals frankly with ordeal in new memoir

(NEWSER) - After 18 years in Phillip Garrido's backyard hell, one might expect Jaycee Dugard to be joyless and withdrawn. But Diane Sawyer instead encounters a fiercely devoted 31-year-old mother, a rape survivor who confronts her ordeal unflinchingly, and a vibrant woman savoring each tiny freedom in her new life—like being to say her own name aloud, something Garrido had prohibited her from doing. Dugard gives her first television interview, airing this Sunday on ABC, ahead of the release of her candid memoir, A Stolen Life. More»

Lawyer hopes Nancy will avoid life sentence

(NEWSER) - Phillip and Nancy Garrido have confessed to kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her for 18 years, Nancy's defense attorney says. The confession was made in an effort to reduce Nancy's sentence, the Los Angeles Times reports: Authorities have offered her a plea deal of nearly 242 years to life, but her attorney says 20 to 30 years is more appropriate. "She's guilty, obviously, of kidnapping and a bunch of other charges," but "as far as being involved in any of the sexual stuff, she wasn't," he says. More»

Alleged kidnappers finally indicted in Jaycee Dugard case

(NEWSER) - It took more than a year after their arrest, but Phillip and Nancy Garrido have been indicted in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard . Nancy Garrido’s lawyer says a grand jury handed up the indictment this week after secret proceedings. Now the couple can be arraigned on the charges as soon as Oct. 1, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “I had assumed they weren't going to” indict, the lawyer tells People . “I'm surprised they waited so long.” More»

In excerpts, she yearned for her own life

(NEWSER) - California prosecutors today made public excerpts of a journal kept by Jaycee Dugard during her 18 years of captivity. The entries show a yearning for freedom but also demonstrate the amount of control Phillip Garrido wielded over her, reports MSNBC . "How can I ever tell him I want to be free," she wrote at one point. "Free to come and go as I please. ... Free to say I have a family. I will never cause him pain if it's in my power to prevent it. FREE." More»

(NEWSER) - Today’s search of the property of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, charged in the rape and kidnap of Jaycee Dugard, found no evidence to link them to the 1980s disappearances of two other northern California girls, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Investigators will continue sifting through areas dug up after cadaver dogs showed interest, but barring new developments, the effort could end tomorrow. More»