Escape from Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story

Escape From Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story is a 1995 American crime drama television film based on a true story from Unsolved Mysteries. It stars Adam Storke, Maria Pitillo, Brad Dourif and Cindy Williams.

Plot

The movie begins with an introduction from Teresa Stamper giving an interview about her ex-husband Paul Stamper and how he caught her when she wasn't looking and that she thought that he was a charmer.

The story begins with Teresa Walden, a 23 year old woman living with her mom, Wanda, in Hennessey, Oklahoma. She goes to apply for a job as a secretary for Stamper Oil Company, run by Paul Stamper. She gets the job and is attracted to her boss, Mr. Stamper, and they eventually start to date. One day, Paul brings Teresa some flowers and a wedding ring and asks her to marry him. They do so in Las Vegas, but afterwards, Paul gives Teresa's job away to another lady, which makes Teresa angry. She tells Paul and he slaps her across the face. Later, however, he goes to Teresa's Mom's House and apologizes to her and it is revealed that Teresa's father abused her mother when she was little. Paul takes Teresa to a house that he has bought and a new jacket that he has bought for her after which they kiss and make up.

Two years go by and Paul and Teresa have a baby daughter named Katie and the marriage seems to be happy, but, unknown to Teresa, Paul is stealing pumps. When she goes to look for him at the bowling alley, he abuses her again by yelling at her and grabbing her, because he believes that she is seeing someone behind his back. The next day, one of Paul's workers named Charlie informs Teresa about Paul's theft and that Paul is abusing drugs, but Teresa doesn't believe it. She takes Paul to a bar that night, believing that he is just tired from working, but while at the bar Teresa sneaks into the men's bathroom and catches Paul doing drugs. He hits her and leaves. Luckily, Teresa is found by an old friend named Chris Butler and is taken to the hospital.

At the hospital, a sheriff named Bill Douglass tells Teresa to get a restraining order against Paul and that if Paul bothers her again, he will be put in jail. The next day, Teresa goes to an attorney and files for divorce. She asks for a restraining order against him. The attorney gives Teresa a tape recorder and that night, when Paul calls Teresa, threatening to kill her if she divorces him, she records what he says. In court, Paul lies and says that he never threatened to kill Teresa and that he loved her, but Teresa's attorney proves him wrong by playing the tape. The judge grants Teresa a restraining order against Paul and orders him to stay away from her or else he will be arrested.

After the divorce, Teresa begins a relationship with Chris, but, one night, as they're driving home, they are pulled over by a car that they think is the police, but it is Paul who had been stalking Teresa. He shoots Chris and kidnaps Teresa. Paul holds Teresa hostage until the next day, when she manages to escape him at a diner and runs to a business nearby, where she calls 9-1-1. The police catch Paul as he tries to escape on a bus and arrest him. Teresa is returned home to her Mom and daughter. Chris is in the hospital; he survived the shooting.

In jail, Paul meets an inmate who is getting released in 3 days and lies to the inmate, telling him that he is rich and will pay him if he helps him escape. The inmate foolishly believes Paul and helps him break out of jail. Sheriff Douglass has Teresa, Wanda, and Katie go stay at his sister-in-law's house in Norman, Oklahoma until they recapture Paul, but it is unsuccessful. Paul finds them there and leaves Teresa flowers. Sheriff Douglass tries to recapture Paul at the hotel room of the inmate who had helped him escape from prison, but he cannot.

Five years later, on Katie's 5th Birthday, Paul calls Teresa and tells her to wish his daughter a Happy Birthday for him. Teresa tells Paul to leave her and Katie alone. Teresa reports this to Sheriff Douglass and Douglass decides to put Paul's picture on the show Unsolved Mysteries. People begin to call in about a man named Gary Wickle, who resembles Paul and who is a trucker. Wickle lives in Commerce City, Colorado and had kidnapped a woman, before, threatening to kill her if she didn't marry him. Douglass calls the Commerce City police and tells them to check on Wickle's house. It is revealed that Gary Wickle is Paul Stamper and he had married a woman with two children of her own from a previous marriage and she is pregnant with their 1st child together. As Stamper gets into his truck to make a delivery to Kansas, the police rush in and arrest him. When Sheriff Douglass gets the news, he informs Teresa and she happily embraces her mother.

After the interview, Teresa is seen again. She reveals that Paul was sentenced to 35 years in prison and that after the trial he was still saying that he loved Teresa. Teresa also says Paul never knew what love was and that she now knows what it isn't.^[1]

Cast

• Adam Storke as Paul Stamper
• Maria Pitillo as Teresa Walden Stamper
• Brad Dourif as Sheriff Bill Douglass
• Cindy Williams as Wanda Walden
• Tony Becker as Chris Butler
• Luce Rains as Charlie
• Stanley M. Fisher as The Judge
• Pat Mahoney as Luke Burnham
• Caitlyn Flinn as Jennifer, little girl on the bus

References

1. ↑ "Escape from Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story (TV Movie 1995)". IMDb. 23 January 1995. Retrieved 1 October 2014. 

External links

• Escape from Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story at the Internet Movie Database