No matter where you go or where you look in this world, you’re going to find someone taking advantage of someone else. It’s a sad state of affairs and something that most people don’t prefer to dwell on.
Every so often though, a story comes along that despite the unpleasantness of it, forces all who hear of it to sit up and take notice. This is a tale of an unscrupulous group of people who took advantage of others in the worst way possible.
**Continue Reading for Video at End of Story**
Investigation
Linda Weston was already in custody when her landlord decided to call the police on her. The landlord couldn’t be sure, but they had a feeling that something funny was happening in the basement, something dangerous and illegal. Police officers were dispatched to Weston’s home in northeast Philadelphia.
Derelict House
The officers arrived at the derelict house and forced their way down the creaking basement steps. In the squalid boiler room of the home, the police found four, highly malnourished adults. Looking around, they saw that while all of them appeared to be trapped, one man, in particular, was even chained.
Found Them
The four people looked though they had not seen any shred of daylight for a very long time. The basement itself was unfinished, dark, and dank as anything. With the exception of the man tied to the boiler, the other three victims were forced to sleep on a plastic mattress directly on the cold, concrete floor.
Worst Thing
Once the press folks got wind of the whole sordid affair, they quickly began adding their own spins and assumptions to the tale. There was no denying that the things Linda and her family were doing were cruel and unusual, but even the captivity wasn’t the worst of it. It was their motive for imprisoning these people that was worst of all.
Mentally Disabled
Tamara Breeden was one of the four people in the basement. At the time of her capture by Weston, Tamara was only 20-year-old but possessed of the mental capacity of a ten-year-old. Weston had seen her in public and had convinced her to enter her car by telling her she was taking her to babysit. It was a simple, effective ruse.
The Plan
Weston and the others involved had gone after Tamara and the others because they all possessed some sort of developmental disability. Tamara would go to the basement and join their other mentally-impaired captives and Weston and her three co-conspirators would collect all of their disability checks. Their plan was simple and foolproof, or so they thought.
Dragged and Beaten
On the day she was taken, Tamara was dragged into the basement with the others. She was chained to a boiler and beaten with a metal bat until she subdued. Though she held her hands up to protect her face, she still suffered broken bones and lacerations. Both of which would heal improperly under Weston’s “care.”
Extreme Abuse
In addition to the initial beating, Tamara and the others were also beaten fairly regularly with sticks, chains, and other bats. Weston and her accomplices would come down and shoot them with BB guns, and would frequently bring them to a trailer where older men would come and force themselves upon them. This wasn’t a new tactic for Weston either.
Money Troubles
When Weston lived in Florida and Texas, she had done much the same. She had forced two, younger female victims into prostitution in order to earn money for her family. It seemed that Weston was determined to use others no matter the locale. It just so happened that Philadelphia presented the most viable long-term solution.
Killed
There is proof that prior to moving to Philly, Weston was responsible for killing two others. Maxine Lee was a disabled woman who died of meningitis and starvation while living with Weston in Virginia. Another woman allegedly died after Weston fed her drug-laced food while keeping her captive in a laundry room. Neither was successfully blamed on Weston.
Possibly More
Even though police only found four people in that basement, they believe that there were many more victims over the years, several of whom might have actually died in captivity. The belief is that within the past few decades, at least a dozen more victims would have been trapped there for a time, though there is no physical record of such a thing.
Praying
While she was imprisoned, Tamara spent much of every day praying to Jesus that she would be saved and reunited with her family. This continued for a decade. It wasn’t until 10 years after she had first been kidnapped that Tamara lifted her head to see police officers creeping their way into the basement. They had been saved. Her prayers had been answered.
Children
There was some complication of sorts in the rescue process, however. As the prosecution was digging into the case, they discovered that Tamara had been forced to copulate with one of the other captives as well. Not simply have sex either, she was expected to get pregnant; and she did. She’d given birth twice in her decade of captivity.
Piecing it Together
Things like this were all part of Weston’s modus operandi for a time. She would kidnap people all over and move them from place to place; a trailer in Texas, an attic in Virginia, or a basement in Philly. That was why police believed there were so many victims, there could indeed have been dozens.
Time Served
By the time the charges were finally filed, Weston had already served some time for another man she’d kill via starvation three decades earlier. Apparently, she hadn’t learned her lesson, not by a longshot. Eventually, she pleaded guilty to 196 criminal counts. These included: kidnapping, racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, hate crimes, sex trafficking, and fraud.
Sentencing
The reason that she had so graciously agreed to plead guilty to what essentially amounted to a life-sentence-worth of charges was basically that the alternative was that she’d get the death penalty. Weston decided a lifetime in prison was better than a short span with a needle at the end. While she awaits sentencing, her victims are trying to move on.
New Focus
Tamara Breeden’s life has changed greatly since her release. She lives with her parents in Kensington. Her daughter, Ava Olivia is her youngest and lives with them. She spends much of her time now focusing on Ava and her other two children born in captivity. She’s also started focusing on her art which is partial therapy as well.
Optimistic
Those who know her describe Tamara’s spirit is unshakeable. It was part of what got her through the dark days in that Philadelphia basement. At this point in time, Tamara’s children are everything to her. Despite her newfound happiness, she still feels the scars of her incarceration, not just physical, but mental as well.
Scarred but Beautiful
Today, Tamara’s physical scars are the obvious reminders of her beatings and abuse. She wears one of them on her forehead, the evidence of a first pistol whipping. “I see my scars every time, but I say to God, I am still beautiful and I am still alive,” she said in a recent interview with DailyMail.com.
Never See a Dime
Attorney Steve Wigrizer, who represented her during the course of the trial, has also spoken out about his client’s experience. “She endured a concentration-like existence for 11 years.” Wigrizer had helped her win a $45 million default judgment about Weston. Unfortunately, the victory was more symbolic than anything else. As the defendants failed to respond to the lawsuit, and given her captor’s previous means of earning money, it’s unlikely that Tamara will ever see a dime. “It is unlikely that this verdict is going to be paid. We knew that going into it, but we thought it was really important to make a statement,” Wigrizer said in a statement.
