Summary
Overview
Ashley Flowers delivers an urgent warning to the Elizabethtown, Kentucky community about Ernest Pine, a violent predator who was recently released on parole after serving only 17 years for a brutal attack. In 2008, Pine nearly killed his neighbor Linda in an attack so horrific she had to scrawl his name in her own blood. The case raises disturbing questions about whether Linda was his first victim, as striking similarities exist to a 1992 unsolved murder of Elena Sanchez Hawkins in the same area where Pine lived.
The Attack on Linda: A Neighbor's Nightmare
In August 2008, Linda was babysitting her granddaughter when neighbor Ernest Pine knocked on her door asking to speak with her husband about a boat dock. The moment she let her guard down, Pine forced his way inside, telling her she was going to die. What followed was a 15-minute ordeal of sexual assault, stabbing, and having her throat sliced ear to ear. Despite being left for dead, Linda managed to write Ernest's name in her own blood on the wall before triggering the panic button, saving both her life and her granddaughter's.
- Ernest Pine knocked on Linda's door around 7 p.m. on August 25, 2008, claiming he wanted to talk to her husband about a boat dock
- Pine forced his way inside when Linda's guard was down, hitting her with a gun and telling her she was going to die
- Linda fought back and requested to be moved to the utility room so her granddaughter wouldn't witness what was about to happen
- Ernest sexually assaulted Linda with objects for 15 minutes, then shot at her head (the gun jammed after one shot), and finally sliced her throat ear to ear
- Linda played dead while Ernest repeatedly returned to stab her, then wrote his name in her own blood on the wall
- Linda survived and pressed the panic button at 8:12 p.m., ending her hour in hell
" Turn around, Ben. You are going to die. "
" She wants people to know who did this to her. And when she finishes the final E in his last name, Pine, somehow, maybe it's the adrenaline that's been rushing through her body or just the drive to protect her granddaughter. At that moment, Linda pushes herself up off the floor "
The Arrest and Investigation: A Mountain of Evidence
Sheriff's deputies arrested Ernest Pine within hours of the attack after Linda identified him. Despite reeking of alcohol and initially denying everything, Pine's story quickly fell apart. Police recovered overwhelming physical evidence from his home including the jammed gun still covered in blood, multiple knives with human blood, zip ties, bloody sandals matching crime scene prints, and blood throughout his house. The 58-year-old church-going family man with no criminal record had somehow committed one of the most brutal crimes investigators had ever seen.
- Police positioned outside Ernest's home and called him to come out around 9 p.m.; he reeked of alcohol when arrested
- Ernest initially denied being at Linda's house, then admitted he went to talk to her husband but claimed he just left
- Police found the .22 caliber handgun in Ernest's basement toolbox, still covered in blood and jammed with wrong ammunition
- Multiple hunting knives with human blood, bloody sandals matching crime scene footprints, zip ties, and a green rope tied into a noose were recovered from Ernest's home
- Ernest had cuts on his thumb, scratches on his lower back, and blood on his watch and shoes when arrested
" Apparently my neighbor was assaulted and said it was me. And that's all I know. I've been in the back of a car ever since then. "
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