Dead Silent investigates a shocking crime of robbery, kidnap, rape, and murder from Rusk in east Texas, which left Kenneth Vandever dead and Candace Driver and Nikki Ansley with life-threatening injuries.
The two violent killers were Richard Cobb and Beunka Adams, two friends who had first met in Boot Camp while in the ninth grade, and then in 2002, decided to go on a crime spree.
On September 2, 2002, Cobb and Adams burst into a convenience store in Rusk armed with shotguns. The masked criminals then kidnapped the two store clerks, Candace Driver and Nikki Ansley, and customer Kenneth Vandever.
Cobb and Adams forced the three into Driver’s Cadillac and then drove them to a secluded area. At this point, Vandever and Driver were forced into the trunk of the car while the newly-engaged Ansley was taking into the woods and sexually assaulted.
Cobb and Adams shot Vandever, Driver, and Ansley
The two killers brutally beat their three victims and forced them to kneel before blasting them with a 12-gauge shotgun. They then fled the scene leaving their victims for dead.
Tragically, Vandever succumbed to his injuries and passed away, but thankfully, Driver and Ansley managed to cling to life and survived the ordeal.
Ansley knew one of her attackers; she had gone to high school with Cobb. Later, she and Driver would testify against the two violent criminals.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelAdams and Cobb were trialed separated, but both were found guilty of murder, attempted murder, robbery, and rape and were sentenced to death. Adams was executed by lethal injection in April 2012, and Cobb was executed in April 2013.
The pair were found to have been responsible for a string of robberies that occurred around the same time as the murder. Adams was executed by lethal injection in April 2012, and Cobb was executed in April 2013.
More from Dead Silent
Follow the links to read about more horrifying crimes examined on Dead Silent.
In a similar case to above, Donna Ferres was abducted late one night in 1979 from a 24-hour 7-Eleven in Maryland by Kenneth Morgan. He took her to a remote area where he raped and stabbed her. Luckily, Ferres survived the attack and managed to raise the alarm.
Josh Holden imprisoned and tortured his wife, Lisa Holden, in their east Texas home for 7 years. One day he beat her so hard she thought he would kill her, so she fled into the woods with her two children.
Dead Silent airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.