David Parker Ray, The Toy Box Killer

Ominous Nights
6 min readOct 1, 2023

Sex crimes are notoriously harder to get convicted of than other crimes. The question regarding consent is what makes the difference. When the perpetrator claims there was consent, and law enforcement and jurors find the claims of the victims unbelievable, the case turns into a nightmare for those seeking justice.

The case of David Parker Ray, better known as the Toy Box Killer, was exactly that. Hell. From multiple missed opportunities to stop Ray to a mistrial. The victims of Ray lived a nightmare that went on for years. Let’s walk through it.

Left to right: Ray’s Lawyer, David Parker Ray

David Parker Ray

Ray was born on November 6th, 1939, in New Mexico. He grew up with his younger sister Peggie while living with their grandparents on a small ranch. Their upbringing was strict.

Every now and then, their father would visit. He was a violent alcoholic, which was most likely the reason the children hadn’t grown up at home.

During the visits, Ray would receive sadomasochistic pornographic magazines. They shaped Ray’s sexual fantasies from a young age.

Add to that his struggles with talking to girls which resulted in bullying at school. It made him follow in his father’s footsteps and he began drinking and abusing drugs.

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