ever sued anybody in my life, but the only way we could get results was to do this. andrea canning: but if the palombas felt betrayed by a few officers in the waterbury police department, another betrayal, this one profound and personal, lay ahead. and it would change everything the palombas and the waterbury community thought they knew about the case. coming up-- they were chopping out her credibility with every single story. andrea canning: donna makes a decision that will test her all over again. she was very nervous, very fragile. andrea canning: will it pay off? when "dateline" continues. andrea canning: the palomba's lawsuit accusing the moran brothers and the city of waterbury of negligence

finally made it to court in early 2001, almost eight years after donna was raped. donna was identified only as jane doe in court. and her kids, both teens by then, still knew nothing about what happened that night. you slept through the entire attack? yes. mm-hmm. andrea canning: johnny palomba was five at the time. i vaguely remember getting walked to my grandmother's house in the middle of the night and being told that it was a problem with the-- a gas leak, i believe in the house, is what i was told. a andrea canning: short time before the trial started, the palombas told johnny and his older sister, sarah an abridged version of what happened with no mention of donna's rape. they basically just said, you know, that night, we told you there was a gas leak. there was actually a home invasion. i don't think they used those words. but somebody had broken into the home. and that it wasn't handled properly by the police, and that's why they were going to court. andrea canning: the trial lasted a month. donna was on the stand for two days testifying as jane doe.

you had this torturous experience on the stand. and then you kind of had your knight in shining armor take the stand, neil o'leary, who was finally someone who was willing to back you up? yes. and that meant so much. i mean, that was not easy for him. i mean, as you can imagine, there is a blue wall where they protect each other. but yet, neil knew that i was telling the truth. and he knew the case had been botched. and he wasn't afraid to say that, to say the truth. andrea canning: the city's lawyer countered calling the rape a hoax, arguing the first investigator's actions were justified. but the jury found the moran brothers negligent, awarding donna and john $190,000 to be paid by the city of waterbury. i saw it in my wife's face. it was vindication for her. it was basically, you tried to destroy my reputation, and you lost. andrea canning: donna didn't spend time savoring the victory. she had urgent business. in the midst of trial preparations,

she'd received awful news, a diagnosis of stage one breast cancer. it was kind of like you're in a prize fight, and you keep getting hit. you know, you're just wondering, you know, when the round is going to end, so you can get back on your feet and get out there again. it was tough. andrea canning: treatment started immediately after the verdict and was successful, but donna palomba, one part fragile beauty, three parts tireless street fighter, had another round to go. she was profoundly upset by the trial coverage in the local newspaper, the "republican-american." if i was just reading the paper, i would think, how could this woman have won? how could these officers be found negligent when she sounds like she concocted this whole thing? there was so much doubt. andrea canning: donna may have won her case in court. but in the court of public opinion, she believed she was losing. it looked like jane doe was really a suspicious character. andrea canning: john murray followed the coverage in the "republican-american."

it was the competition. murray is the publisher and editor of "the waterbury observer," an independent monthly newspaper he founded. they were chopping out our credibility with every single story. andrea canning: and the rumor mill? murray says it was still working overtime, even after the trial. so just because she won didn't mean all the rumors just instantly stopped. absolutely not. they actually intensified. they intensified because who didn't know about the rumors, now everybody knew about them. so it spread everywhere. andrea canning: one day, murray got a phone call out of the blue. her sister reached out and said that that jane doe wanted to talk. andrea canning: murray agreed to meet jane doe. what followed was intense. he says he found donna extraordinarily credible and vulnerable. she was very nervous, very fragile. and she remained jane doe through this whole process. she didn't tell me who she was.

and so i respected that. and we had an interview that went on probably for four or five hours as she was telling me the story. i'm listening. i'm empathizing with her. she was crying. i cried. i mean, it was a terrible story. why did she finally want to at least get her story out there, even if she wasn't going to use her real name? she wanted the truth out there. she wanted an apology from the waterbury police department. never got that. she wanted the morans to just say, like, we screwed up. andrea canning: that never happened. douglas moran continued to work at the waterbury police department. his older brother had retired before the trial. but john murray was moved by donna's story. he wanted to tell it. so he went to work. he conducted more interviews with donna, made calls, dug into court transcripts, and published a blockbuster report, still protecting donna's identity. some of the testimony is in print, so we transcribed that and shared that. we printed the 911 call that's very compelling.

so it made it out into the public. and i think that that gave her a great sense of relief that someone had believed her and acknowledged that-- the story that she was telling. it must have felt good getting that story out there. it did. i was still jane doe, but at least, it was documented, the truth of what happened that night and afterward. andrea canning: the story shut down some lingering gossip. donna was finally starting to feel vindicated, but it didn't ease the anguish of not knowing who her assailant was or where he was. and this was a man, remember, your attacker, who said he would kill if you talked to the police. that's right. he made that very clear. were you always looking over your shoulder, even years later? did it stick with you? it did. it's something that is lifelong. that type of trauma and that type of threat stays with you. andrea canning: little did she know, the case was about to crack wide open.

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but he hadn't solved it either. the case basically went cold, except for the fact that i would check in with them periodically and let them know that we were still looking at anything even remotely close, you know, any sexual assault, any burglaries that might be similar. so did you think that this would ever get solved? johnny palomba: no. it might have been solved, but i just think the window closed. the only thing that i had hope for was they had dna. so if the person did it again and they got dna, then they could tie it in. that gave me hope. i didn't honestly think about it every day that they're going to catch this guy, but i did know that there was dna evidence. and i did understand at that point, the power of dna. andrea canning: meanwhile, everyone had moved on. donna's marketing business was thriving. sarah was attending college. johnny was in high school.

and neil o'leary had weathered the divisions in the waterbury police department to become acting chief. then one day, he was going through case reports when something caught his eye. and i came across this attempted sexual assault case on fleming street. and what caught my eye on the case was the alleged perpetrator was john regan. did that name ring a bell for you? well, i knew john regan and the regan family, a prominent family in waterbury. and i was astonished he was accused of sexually assaulting his co-worker who was a 21-year-old girl. andrea canning: john regan was a middle aged father of three, resectable guy known to everyone in town by his nickname, rocky. i called don, the head of the detective bureau, gave him the case, and asked him to look into it, get a hold of the victim, and follow up with her. andrea canning: the victim told detectives that john regan took her to his parents' house, which was empty at the time.

once there, she said regan pulled her onto his lap and assaulted her. she said she fought him off and managed to get away. i talked to the detective that took the statement from her. and she, the female detective, said that she absolutely believed her. andrea canning: as the waterbury pd worked the case, o'leary couldn't get the incident out of his mind. the way he tells the story, what happened next was pure serendipity. remember that party the night of donna's rape, the stag? it was a big affair, the kind of bash that waterbury was known for. stag parties are popular in the city of waterbury because family, friends, and neighbors get together and celebrate an up and coming wedding. we're one of the only communities that still has these enormous stags. andrea canning: and who was the stag for? a man named regan, a cousin of john regan's. so i'm driving home from work that day, and it's when i remembered about the stag that we spent so much time on. so it just hit you in the car?

like a bolt of lightning. it hit me. and i'm like, is it possible that john regan would have known that john palomba was out of town? did john regan go to that stag? i had seen a list of the people that had gone to the stag, and i didn't remember seeing that name. andrea canning: o'leary had always suspected the stag party was key to the assault. and he knew that when john palomba didn't show, word got out that he was out of town. so he made a call and discovered that rocky had, indeed, attended that stag, although, his name wasn't on the guest list. o'leary quickly called a meeting with donna and john. that's when he asked if we knew john regan. and my husband was like, of course. yeah. he's a good friend. and he's like, why? and john immediately dismissed him like, there's no way he could be connected. do you think that maybe he-- no, i said. it couldn't be him. no way. andrea canning: couldn't be him. no way. even though john palomba was adamant,

o'leary asked for a dna sample on the outside chance he'd get a match to the evidence collected from donna after the assault. rocky gave a sample. and i thought, it can't be him. yeah. i mean, if he gave you a sample-- why would you give a sample? --that would implicate if you were donna's attacker? donna palomba: right. exactly. andrea canning: john regan was charged with unlawful restraint in the incident involving his coworker and was out on bail. those who knew him couldn't believe he'd do such a thing. and nowhere was that feeling stronger than in overlook, the neighborhood where john regan grew up, just streets away from john palomba, where friends were like family and boyhood friends were practically brothers. coming up-- if there's one person john palomba is sure isn't donna's attacker, it's his friend, john. john regan was at my sixth birthday party. i've known him since kindergarten. if i were to name, like, 10 friends that were closest to me, he probably

would have made that list. when i was in his company, he acted normal just like all john's other friends. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

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xfinity mobile. now xfinity internet customers can buy one line of unlimited and get one free for a year. in october 2004, acting police chief neil o'leary summoned donna and john palomba to his office. it had been 11 years since donna was raped. as they stepped into the elevator in the waterbury pd,

donna and john were consumed by one question, was o'leary about to tell them there was a dna match with their old family friend, john "rocky" regan? john had known him forever. john regan was at my sixth birthday party. i've known him since kindergarten. our families were friends. i knew his whole family well. andrea canning: john and rocky grew up just blocks from one another in overlook, which was then a comfortable prosperous neighborhood in waterbury, where neighbors were like family and crime was almost unheard of. john murray knows overlook well. it sounds like a very idyllic neighborhood that they grew up in. it was a beautiful neighborhood. and people would just walk to school. they'd walk a mile downtown to go to the schools. and nobody does that anymore. it was a pretty peaceful place back then. andrea canning: the kids here grew up playing together on saturdays and praying together on sundays. john's younger brother, bill palomba. it's the type of neighborhood where you could

leave the house right after breakfast and not be back until sundown, and parents didn't have to worry about you because you were with a whole bunch of kids. you just got 20 guys, and you had to pick up baseball game or football game. and that's the way the whole neighborhood was. everyone looking out for each other? pretty much. yeah. pretty much. do you have fond memories of john regan from those days playing sports and hanging out in the park? oh, yeah, we all had a good time. we all enjoyed each other's company. we had a lot of fun. we had one game of football up there where this one group challenged us and said they were going to kick our butts. and i think we beat them 86 to 6. it wasn't even close. you remember john regan in those days as a friend. yeah. yeah. we kind of were a group of friends that did a lot of stuff together. andrea canning: john and rocky were members of prominent local families. an elementary school in waterbury is even named after a regan family member.

john's father was a popular mayor. rocky's dad, a well-liked dentist. johnny palomba: we used to go with our fathers. they would do the country club of waterbury. they'd get football tickets for a giants game. we'd go down on a bus trip, and we'd watch the game and then take the bus back. john went on some of these-- yeah, him and i would go because his father would go. my father would go. andrea canning: both boys were all about sports. john palomba: we played football together in high school. i kind of helped him, you know, with some of his skills on the team. i mean, his parents were very nice people. he had two sisters who i liked. and his older brother was a friend of mine too. andrea canning: what started as kids playing football turned into teenagers dating girls. how was he out on a date? was he a respectful guy to his date? yeah. he was always respectful, that i saw. did you like hanging out with him? yeah, he was fun. andrea canning: the guys grew up, graduated, got married.

he was at your wedding? john palomba: yeah. i was at his too. i knew his wife and her family since her brother and i were friends in kindergarten. i knew him for so long. i mean, it was like-- you know, he would have been, like-- if i were to name, like, 10 friends that were closest to me, he probably would have made that list. that's how well we knew each other. andrea canning: donna grew up in waterbury too. she and john bought a house in overlook to raise their family. rocky and his wife live nearby, and the two couples swapped favors. did you trust him? was he the kind of guy that would help you out, would have your back? my garage roof was in a little rough shape, so he helped me put a new roof on. and then in turn, i helped him with his roof. and then because he helped me with the roof, we had him and his wife and his kids over for dinner. and how was that, donna? fine. it was the neighborly thing to do, to thank him for his help. john obviously knew him better than you did, but--

she knew him well, though. well, was there anything about him that kind of rubbed you the wrong way or that you thought, i don't love this guy, but he's friends with john-- when i was in his company, he never did anything that i thought was inappropriate. he acted normal, just like all john's other friends. andrea canning: years passed. life got busy. john was involved with his job in insurance and with his family. rocky, too, was a family man. he was a branch manager at a local roofing and siding company. rocky and john saw less of each other. and now on the elevator to neil's office, donna and john were asking themselves, would there be a dna match? and could it be rocky? could it possibly be rocky? this is a big moment for you getting on this elevator because this could unlock the mystery of who did this to you. yes. andrea canning: all those years of agonizing over her attacker's identity might come to an end in minutes. but a dna match could mean the beginning

of a new kind of torment. coming up-- i saw the color just drain from his face. and he just was in disbelief, in complete disbelief. andrea canning: then a call from a drugstore triggers alarm bells. the girl that was developing the film was disturbed by the photos. andrea canning: what the photos showed. creepy. very. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. ♪♪ when your child has moderate-to-severe eczema, it's okay to for them to show off. show off their clearer skin and noticeably less itch with dupixent. because children 6 months and older with eczema have plenty of reasons to show off their skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, they can stay ahead of their eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema

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ask your child's eczema on an october day in 2004, neil o'leary ushered donna and john palomba into his private office. i could tell when she came through the door into my chief's office, she was nervous. andrea canning: nervous about how john palomba would react. he goes, we got a hit on the dna. and he goes, but you have to promise me-- and i want you to swear to me right now that you're not

going to go after the person. andrea canning: john palomba gave his word. only then did neil o'leary tell john and donna the answer they'd been longing for since 1993. the dna was a match to john regan. it was a match? it was a match. what's that like in that moment where you go from the shadowy figure to a real person who you know? it was unbelievable. it was unbelievable to think that this person that we had known could do such a thing. and i was more worried for john knowing who it was, for my husband, john. i was worried about what would happen next. he was devastated, really visibly devastated. i said, no, no. i can't be him. he goes, john, it was a perfect match with the dna. and i saw the color just drained from his face.

and he just was in disbelief, in complete disbelief. did you want to go after john regan? oh, yeah. do you think you would have if neil hadn't have said-- if i saw him. that's a lot of bottled rage over the years that had probably built up. but john knew if he followed his anger, he'd hurt the people he loved the most. i'm a catholic. you know, murder is not something that is acceptable. plus, you have to think about what's best for your family. that would be a very selfish thing to do. i'd get rid of my rage. but then i'd put my family in a position where they could get sued by his family. the kids lose their father. but if i saw him and he came near me, i would have. i would have. andrea canning: but he didn't. instead, he took that anger to his garage,

put it toward destroying a few punching bags. you punched it so hard, that you had to get a new one? shreds. shreds them. yeah. [mumbles] oh, come on. john called sarah, who was away at college to break the news. i remember where i was sitting in my dorm room. and i just remember being shocked to my core. and i remember going to the dining hall later that day. and i could not get his image out of my head for a long time after that. it deeply shook me. the fact that it was somebody that close to the family, that almost rocked me more than anything just because i was convinced that this person was long gone. and it wasn't somebody that was long gone. it was somebody that was still in the community. right under your nose. johnny palomba: yeah, it's disgusting. i mean, it's the definition of leading a double life. i remember him in our backyard. he was a close family friend. he was somebody that i would have never in a million years

suspected to be capable of something like this. andrea canning: the memory of a day at the beach with john regan haunts the palombas. donna palomba: so we went for a swim, stayed for some food. yeah. yeah, had lunch and a couple of beers, sat on the beach. and we were there with our kids and good friends of ours and their kids. it was all family. and this was a few years after the attack. after? after. and of course, we didn't know anything. oh, my god. it's horrible to think about. that is astonishing that that could happen. i mean, also the boldness of that. it speaks to the fact that we did not know this man, even though john had grown up with him. and nobody did. andrea canning: in october 2004, john regan was charged with kidnapping in donna's case because the statute of limitations for rape had run out. disappointing? oh, very disappointing for all of us.

andrea canning: regan pleaded not guilty to the charge of kidnapping donna. he posted bail, his family and friends standing by him. but if donna thought this would restore her reputation, she was wrong. the old rumors were back. i'd go work out at the ymca, and there's guys who were friends with him. and they'd come up to me and say, you know, do you really believe that-- so he had an affair with her. it's not once. i heard this over and over again for the next years. people did not believe her. andrea canning: nearly a year after regan was charged in donna's case, the waterbury police department got a call from a local drugstore. john regan was dropping off rolls of film, getting them developed. and the girl that was developing the film was disturbed by the photos. what was on the photos? pictures of women. and it was obvious to the girl who was developing the film that these women didn't know they were being photographed. and it was also obvious that the photographs

were being taken from inside of a vehicle. creepy. very. andrea canning: waterbury police planned to charge regan with another crime, stalking. but before they could do that, a terrifying incident on halloween night in saratoga springs, new york interrupted that plan. then on halloween, ironically halloween, while most of us are putting on masks, his mask was ripped off. andrea canning: coming up, a startling attack. all of a sudden, i had a very forceful arm wrapped around my chest and then over my mouth. so this just happened in an instant? in an instant. andrea canning: and an eerie discovery. there were two slipknots ready to go. there was a tarp that you could cover somebody with. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. (luke) homes-dot-com is a new, elevated home-shopping experience.ul music] it's the only site that always connects you to the listing agent. feels like a work of art!

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families iratoga rings, new york were getting ready for halloween trick or treating. school sports practices were wrapping up. members of the saratoga springs high school cross-country team were heading home. i was walking out with my two girlfriends at the time. and we were kind of, like, planning, like, what are we going to do? it's halloween. andrea canning: cross-country star, lindsey ferguson said goodbye to her friends and walked to her car. i saw a van that was parked pretty close to mine. and as i tried to get to my car, because it was so close, i kind of had to go sideways. and so i, like, very carefully opened the back, threw my bag in, and then opened the front door. and at that point, i heard the, like, sliding van door behind me open. andrea canning: did it give you chills or anything? my only thought was, like, oh, he must be trying

to get out to go get his kid. andrea canning: he wasn't. lindsey learned that fast. all of a sudden, i had a very forceful arm wrapped around my chest and then over my mouth or trying to cover my mouth. oh, my gosh. so this just happened in an instant? in an instant. andrea canning: lindsey fought back, screamed and kicked her attacker. that got the attention of her coach, ray harrington, who was across the parking lot. what did you see? what was happening to lindsey? what was most dramatic were her eyes, kind of the surprise, the terror in her face, which really grabbed my attention. andrea canning: ray ran toward them. the man let lindsey go. he got back into his van. we were just as close as we are right now. what did he say to you? i yelled at him as i ran towards lindsey's vehicle. i was like, who are you? and he says, it doesn't matter. and i said, the hell, it doesn't matter. andrea canning: ray called 911, described the assailant to the dispatcher as the man started to drive off.

andrea canning: the guy in the van was gone. ray yelled out to art kranick, another one of lindsey's coaches who was driving by in his flashy sports car, told him to follow the van. an extraordinary car chase got underway in the genteel streets of saratoga springs. and somehow, you ended up here? right. he pulled in, came in the other entrance, pulled over here, and for some reason, stopped. did you say anything to him? did he say anything to you? i was screaming at him probably things that i shouldn't be saying on tv and trying to get him to come out of the van. that sounds dangerous, trying to get him to come out. yeah. i didn't want to get out of the car first and have him pull away and then lose him. i wanted to stay right behind him the whole time.

andrea canning: sure enough, the man took off again with art on his tail. but just a few blocks later, police pulled the van over. did they draw guns on him? no, they didn't. he got out, and he was very casual, you know? what did i do wrong? really played it down. andrea canning: officers smelled alcohol on the man's breath and arrested him on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. they searched the van and made a chilling discovery. former chief of the saratoga springs police department, ed moore. there were two slipknots ready to go. there was a tarp laid out in that van that you could cover somebody with once you got them under your control. there was also some antihistamines that could cause drowsiness that were found. a syringe? and a syringe. did you believe that that syringe, he was going to use that on lindsey to sedate her? we certainly had to take that into account as a possibility.

i think had her coaches not been in the lot and he got her into his van, she'd still be a missing person today. andrea canning: lindsey ferguson knows just how lucky she was that evening. at what point did you realize how serious this actually could have been? i think maybe going to the police station. i knew it was serious, like, he was trying to abduct me. but i didn't think about all of the, like, well, what could have happened? andrea canning: investigators in saratoga springs worked the phones, reached out to police departments in the surrounding area looking for more information on lindsey's attacker. how did you hear that he had been involved in other incidents with women? ultimately, when we reached out to waterbury police, it was like we hit the jackpot. andrea canning: that's because the man they'd picked up was well known to waterbury police. the man who tried to abduct lindsey ferguson was none other than john regan. waterbury police told saratoga springs investigators that regan was out on bond awaiting trial in the two cases involving

donna and his co-worker. they actually sent a couple of investigators up to our department to start sharing information with us because they were working on the donna palomba case at the time, and they had another active case that they were working on. wow. the effort that went into stopping him was really incredible by the coaches on the phone, lindsey, herself. i mean, just bringing this guy down was no easy task. no. they stopped that guy from kidnapping her by themselves single handedly. andrea canning: saratoga springs police learned regan was in town to work on a house owned by a relative. the house appeared to be empty. ed moore: we found that house buttoned up nice and tight. all the shades were drawn. you could easily pull in off of the street and go right to the back entrance out of sight of people around you. and had he kidnapped lindsey and was successful, we surmised that that was one of the spots

that he may have taken her to. this is a true halloween horror story. yeah. this particular night, i think evil paid a visit to saratoga in the name of john regan. andrea canning: the news of regan's new arrest hit his hometown like a bomb. john murray says a lot more people in waterbury were finally ready to accept the facts about john regan and the truth of donna's account. now those same people that were for the last years saying that they just had an affair, now the pendulum swung the other way. andrea canning: in may 2006 in a saratoga springs courthouse, john regan pleaded guilty to the attempted kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment of lindsey ferguson. he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. later that year, he appeared in a waterbury courtroom to face the charges in connecticut. he did not admit guilt, but conceded prosecutors had enough evidence for conviction on three charges, the kidnapping of donna and the unlawful restraint

and stalking of his co-worker. we were told that because of the complications in the case, that the best we could hope for was 15 years. and i wasn't happy with that. andrea canning: at sentencing, donna came face to face with john regan. in her statement before the court, she called him calculating, dangerous, and said she prayed he would never have the opportunity to harm another person. her husband wasn't as composed. john palomba got up. and he walked to the edge of the thing, and he said, look at me. he just roared like a lion. he just roared. and he just filled the whole courtroom up. and now he's talking to his friend. look at me. and he wouldn't look. and he started yelling at him and calling him names. you're a coward. and it was like, wow. it was like one of the most intense things i've ever seen.

did the judge say-- he didn't say anything. andrea canning: nothing? they let him-- just let him go? they just let him roar, and he roared. and it was so intense. the way you just jumped is the way everyone in the courtroom jumped. andrea canning: regan was sentenced to 15 years in the connecticut cases to be served concurrently with the saratoga springs term. donna palomba's story seemed to be over, so why was she back in the courtroom years later facing john regan once again? coming up, a sickening surprise. infuriating. it was unbelievable. i had never heard of this before. andrea canning: and a moment nearly 30 years in the making. as you're walking through those courtroom doors, what is going through your mind? god, just please help me get through this. did it give you chills? i was trembling. it was really intense. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

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andrea canning (voiceover): by 2007, donna palomba's ordeal seemed to be over. the whispers about her had died down. her rapist was behind bars, and donna was ready to take a momentous step. so, i'm coming forward now because it's time. andrea canning (voiceover): she appeared on dateline nbc that year and revealed her identity in public for the first time. it's freeing, truthfully. and i hope that it gives courage to other women. what was that moment that made you decide, i'm ready?

i'm ready to not be jane doe anymore. it's when i learned about-- more about the crime, about the fact that most victims don't report, about the fact that most victims are under the age of 21. and it was about the fact that these cases are so stigmatized. you know, instead of looking for the perpetrator, they're often putting a magnifying glass on the victim. andrea canning (voiceover): she came forward years before the metoo movement, determined to work with other survivors, men and women, and create awareness about sexual crimes. she named her nonprofit jane doe no more. we're all working together, so that we can shorten the timeline from the horror of the crime of rape to healing for the best possible chance for a victim's full and healthy recovery. andrea canning (voiceover): fast forward to 2017. that august, donna discovered news that horrified her.

remember, john regan's sentences in new york and connecticut were to be served concurrently. he'd served almost a dozen years by then. just as he was due to transfer to connecticut to finish the remaining three years, he qualified for statutory good time. that meant he'd be a free man in months, without serving a day in the state where he'd attacked her. andrea canning: infuriating. it was unbelievable. i had never heard of this before. and i could not believe that he was going to finish his connecticut attendance without ever having served a minute of time in connecticut. andrea canning (voiceover): donna was convinced john regan would reoffend if he was released, and she wasn't about to let him go free without a fight. john murray understood that. when you have your foundation rocked the way that it was rocked, and not just with the sexual assault-- it was the confrontation with the police, the confrontation in the courtroom. i mean, this is just bizarre amount of abuse that she took to her psyche. andrea canning (voiceover): donna

began working with the authorities in new york. they came up with a novel idea to employ a rarely used statute called the civil management law, which only applies to sexual offenders. under the law, regan would stand trial. a jury would decide if he was fit to fully re-enter society. so the jury had to decide that the perpetrator, john regan, had a mental abnormality, and that he would likely re-offend and commit a sexual offense in the future. andrea canning (voiceover): if the jury decided regan was likely to reoffend, he would not live his life as a free man. donna was elated by the decision to hold a civil trial, even though she knew she'd be called to testify with regan in the courtroom. there were a lot of sleepless nights. and i just was trying to prepare myself for the fact that not only did i have to see him, but i had to describe what he did to me in detail.

andrea canning (voiceover): the trial opened in plattsburgh, new york, in november 2021. the proceedings were closed to protect the identity of regan's victims, like donna, who were testifying. as you're walking through those courtroom doors, what is going through your mind? god, just, please, help me get through this. andrea canning (voiceover): donna was on the stand for most of a day. andrea canning: did he make eye contact with you? we never made eye contact, and i'm grateful for that, actually. did it give you chills just being near him? yeah, i was trembling. it was really intense. were you able to hold it together? i was more-- i have a job to do. i'm going to get through this. and i'm not going to break down in front of him. andrea canning (voiceover): her husband, john, never doubted that she would be thorough and composed. she's very determined, and she knew she had to do something to keep this creep off the streets. and this is her way of getting him where he belongs. andrea canning (voiceover): regan's other victims took the stand, too. medical experts on both sides testified.

the jury deliberated for less than a day. donna got the verdict in a phone call from an attorney for the state of new york. and she said, well, we have good news. andrea canning (voiceover): the jury had decided that regan did have a mental abnormality, and because of that, would likely re-offend if released. under new york's law, regan would remain confined in a secure treatment facility or live in approved housing under strict supervision, with periodic evaluation either way, until a judge orders otherwise. because the case involves mental health, regan's court records are sealed. i was elated, truly. i was just so grateful that the jury had come to this decision, and that we could now rest easier, all of us. it was kind of like you were closing an ugly chapter of your life. and it was time to start to enjoy all the things that you

were kind of missing because of your preoccupation with the situation. andrea canning (voiceover): finally, almost three decades after she was raped, donna palomba's journey was over. donna, did you ever imagine the journey that you would go on-- no. andrea canning: --and where this would lead you? no, i honestly could never have imagined the twists and the turns. but i just kept focused on the next right thing to do. andrea canning (voiceover): many things have changed since that night in september 1993. robert moran, the waterbury police department captain, has died. his younger brother, douglas, the lieutenant who read donna her rights, retired from the police department years ago and could not be reached for comment. despite ruffling feathers in the waterbury pd, neil o'leary served in the department for almost three decades, and then he changed jobs. in 2011, he was elected mayor of the city, a job he held until 2023. the waterbury police department has radically

changed the way it treats sexual assault victims, thanks, in part, to the efforts of jane doe no more. we want other victims to know that they are not alone. you are the most perfect, living, breathing example of how you can come back from something like this and how you can survive and go on to live a productive life. thank you, and you know, you can't help what someone does to you, but you can choose how you react. and, you know, with understanding and nurturing, you can heal from this. andrea canning (voiceover): donna's nonprofit continues to empower survivors and educate public school students and law enforcement about sexual crimes. the kids have grown into adults deeply proud of their mom and her accomplishments. johnny palomba: she's really trying to make a huge difference in the lives of victims, really help them holistically throughout the whole process.

have you ever been around your mom when someone has come up to her and thanked her? yes. what do people say? honestly, it's-- you know, a lot of people call her jane doe. so they'll come up and say, you know, hi, jane doe. andrea canning (voiceover): sarah is a wife and mom herself. andrea canning: is your mom a hero? absolutely, and, you know, i think that she did something that was a very, very hard thing to do. and she had many, many opportunities to give up. and she refused to. does your mom's strength give you strength? absolutely. and i think that the belief that you can get to the other side and the hope that it will get better is something that she's absolutely instilled in me and is what has allowed me to maintain that optimism, even in my dark times. andrea canning (voiceover): as for john, he's still at donna's side every step of the way and still working out his anger at the old friend who betrayed him.

andrea canning: how many punching bags have you been through since we last talked? that's funny that you say that, andrea, because he has. how many have you gone through? [laughs] i don't know. i really don't. i guess it's still your choice for getting through the aggression? well, yeah, it helps. it helps. andrea canning (voiceover): and for donna, one journey ends, the other continues. you're bringing hope to sexual assault survivors. that's it, and that's the mission, is to bring hope. andrea canning (voiceover): hope that no one else will go through what she did. hope that she can change just one woman's experience. hope that a long journey through horror and anguish can finally be put behind her. because in the end, donna palomba knows it's hope that heals.