Fans of the Lifetime Movie Network show My Haunted House were enthralled with the story of a Dreamcatcher Killer named Teddy Harmon in Season 2. The murderer was an escaped convict that snuck into peoples’ houses and killed them, leaving a dreamcatcher made of teeth and bones as a calling card. Of course, the killer in the show isn’t real (especially since he was found to be a ghost at the end of the episode), but he seems to be based on Gary Charles Evans, a very real and very creepy serial killer from the 1980s and ’90s.

There are many parallels between Evans’ case and the murderer in the TV show. Both were located in New York in the ’80s, both escaped from prison, both committed several murders and had been sentenced to multiple life sentences, and both died in a melee with police. While Harmon was said to have been killed in a shootout, the truth about Evans is even crazier. After escaping prison and being brought back into custody, Evans managed to hide a razor and key in his nasal cavities, and escape from a police van while his hands and feet were shackled. He kicked out the window of the van, jumped out, and dove into the Hudson River, which ended up killing him.

gary evans, murderpedia
Murderpedia

However, there are also some major differences between the two. Evans was actually an antique and jewel thief, and only killed people who could testify against him, like shopkeepers and accomplices. While Harmon was said to have killed women, Evans killed only men. As a matter of fact, he had many friends that were women, who described him to the New York Times as being particularly gentle, empowering, and a great listener. He didn’t even eat meat! Experts claim that being kind to women and animals gave Evans a sense of power, and he was likely a sociopath who simply pretended to care about his “friends.” The callousness of his murders show that he likely felt no emotions at all!

Evans’ sister claims he was abused badly by his father and even tried once, unsuccessfully, to stab him while he was beating their mother. Evans certainly didn’t make dreamcatchers from his victims’ body parts, but he did dismember them and hide the parts around town. Perhaps in this case, the truth is scarier than fiction!

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