This is Installment Three of the September 27, 1983, interview of Cindy Paulson by Sgt. Glenn Flothe, AST. In this installment, Cindy talks about being handcuffed by Robert Hansen at gunpoint — and identifies his handgun. Identifying and finding Hansen’s weapon cache would prove essential to making the murder case against the “Butcher, Baker.” [Installment Two]
Purchase Butcher, Baker
Cindy Paulson
FLOTHE: Now you mentioned this airplane seat. I’m a little confused about when the airplane seat got in and out of the car.
CINDY: OK, well I had got in the car to give the guy a blowjob. I looked in the back, OK, there was like a… you know how seats in front have covers — they’re metal? OK, that wasn’t even back there. On the floor instead there was an airplane seat. OK, well he was taking me from being downstairs to the airport, to go get in his plane, the seat was not in the back seat, it was in the trunk, ‘cause he kept going from the trunk carrying things to fit in the airplane. (pause)
FLOTHE: Would you recognize this metal seat if you saw it again, do you think?
CINDY: Yeah, but then again one seat looks the same. I can tell you (inaudible) I can describe the plane to you. The security guard had came up I don’t know if I was in the back laying down when he [the security guard] did. That was why [Hansen] kept telling me to lay down. The security guard at that time…
FLOTHE: How did you know that?
CINDY: ‘Cause they told me, the police officers had told me when we went to the hospital. ‘Cause I still got marks from the handcuffs on my hands. My left wrist, right there…
FLOTHE: Um hmm.
CINDY: And then up here to where I was starting to get it off. There.
FLOTHE: There is a kind of lightish scar there on your…
CINDY: Um hmm. It was a red scar…
FLOTHE: On the inside of your left wrist.
CINDY: Yep. And then up here on my hand, right in the middle.
FLOTHE: Were the handcuffs tight?
CINDY: Some times they were. I was just… I was hysterical and shocked, didn’t know what to do, he was chasing after me with a gun. And I was just running.
FLOTHE: So, you’re in the car and he pulls a gun out and he handcuffs you. Does he tell you anything at that point, once he’s got the handcuffs on…
CINDY: Yeah. ‘Don’t worry. Don’t cause no problems and I won’t hurt you.’
FLOTHE: Did he point the gun at you at any time?
CINDY: Yes, directly.
FLOTHE: In your face?
CINDY: Um hmm. Every time it was in my face.
FLOTHE: What did the gun look like?
CINDY: It was a big revolver gun, like a police gun. Handle was brown. It had a long barrel.
FLOTHE: I have… it’s kind of a picture book with different types of guns in it, OK. Would you take a look through that picture book and see if you see a gun that might be similar to the one that this man had?
CINDY: Um hmm.
FLOTHE: Make sure you look through the whole book before you decide. And it may not even be in there.
(Sound of pages turning. Cindy coughs.)
CINDY: Looked kinda like this, with a really long barrel.
FLOTHE: You’re pointing at Figure Number 21.
CINDY: Yeah. With a wood handle.
FLOTHE: Was it… this one here is called like a checkered grip. You know, like mine is. (rustling sound as Flothe shows his gun to Cindy) Did it have that or was…
CINDY: No. It was smooth. It was smooth like Figure 20’s handle, but the gun was shaped like Figure 21. And it had a long barrel (turning of pages) like Figure 4 or (pause) Figure 2.
FLOTHE: So it had a longer barrel than…
CINDY: Yeah, it had a really long barrel.
FLOTHE: OK. Was it a blue color? This looks black but it’s actually blue. Or was it some other color?
CINDY: It was a black…
FLOTHE: Like this?
CINDY: It was a really dark color.
FLOTHE: Really dark color.
CINDY: Uh huh.
FLOTHE: Did you notice anything about the sights? See how my sights are painted with an orange…
CINDY: It wasn’t painted.
FLOTHE: Wasn’t painted. It was plain.
CINDY: Um hmm.
Hansen’s Weapon Cache (courtesy Alaska State Troopers; found in the attic of Hansen’s residence; note the handgun at center left)
Purchase Butcher, Baker