'Elizabeth Smart: Seeking Justice': How Candra Torres's captor brainwashed her and got away with killing her husband
Candra Torres and her husband Jose 'Julio' Torres had been celebrating their first wedding anniversary by hiking in the Mt Hood National Forest in Oregon. The two had been enjoying the wonders of nature and fishing in the river when they came across a stranger who seemed friendly at first, but quickly became Torres's worst nightmare. Thomas Browne, killed Torres's husband and their dog, Rusty and held her captive for three days, during which he sexually assaulted her and brainwashed her. Her abduction gained notoriety for being classified as one of the earliest cases of the psychological condition, Stockholm Syndrome. Her story went on to become the subject of a 1983 film entitled, 'The Awakening of Candra'. In a new documentary entitled 'Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice', Lifetime is shedding light on the events that transpired during Torres's abduction. It features kidnapping survivor-turned activist, Elizabeth in conversation with Torres, who rehashes what exactly happened to her over 40 years ago.
After killing her husband and dog, Browne took Torres hostage claiming that he was going to keep her as his wife and live up in the mountains. He had confessed to her husband's murder, after gunning down her dog right in front of her. In order to make sure that she wouldn't snitch about his misdeeds to the police, he began brainwashing her and Torres thus succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome (SS). A psychological response to being held in captivity, Stockholm Syndrome occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or aggressors through physical or emotional manipulation. The bond can either be positive feelings of empathy and the illusion of romantic interest or negative feelings as a result of abuse and fear. Browne had basically brainwashed Torres into keeping her silence by threatening her safety. He set in motion a diabolical plan to keep Torres hostage. The process can be broken down into three stages:
Breaking down of self
July 24, 1976, day one of her captivity was particularly traumatic for Torres. Browne had taken her up to the mountain and proceeded to rape her several times. The only thought ringing in her head at this time was "If I do everything he says, then I will survive." Her predator was slowly breaking her will to the point that she remembers, "That man would have made me do anything and I would have done it." Browne had assaulted her not just physically but also psychologically. A systemic attack on her sense of self and her core belief system, Torres faced an identity crisis leaving her exhausted, confused and disoriented. Browne was a master manipulator and had revealed to Torres that he had in fact studied mind control.
He made her sleep in a sleeping bag with him and warned her that any attempts at escaping would result in her death. The fear rendered her not only vulnerable but extremely weak to her captor's assault. She eventually reached her breaking point where her sense of self had been so distorted that she had no clear understanding of who she was or what exactly was happening to her. But she knew she was in danger and not obliging to her assaulter's demands would only prove disastrous for her.
Creating a bond by creating a possibility of salvation
Once she was completely submissive, Brown initiated the next step of the brainwashing process. On day two of her captivity, July 25, 1976, Torres's captor told her she could go back and that he had killed her husband by accident. He explained that Julio Torres was looking through a pair of binoculars, while he had been holding the gun. The two exchanged their equipment only for the gun to accidentally set off, killing Torres's husband in the process. Being held captive is an overwhelming feeling and you would do pretty much do anything to stop that feeling, even if it means latching on to a lie. He tried to make it seem that he had saved her life and she should be grateful.
Rebuilding the victim's identity
With Torres in a confused state of mind, Browne had her exactly where he wanted her. On day three, his treatment towards her changed and his aggressive nature had substantially mellowed. He offered physical and mental comfort in correlation to the new belief system that she had involuntarily adapted to. Browne agreed to drive her down the mountain, but halfway through the ride changed his mind and suddenly turned around. By day four, Browne had managed to convince Torres of her husband's accidental death and it was ingrained as such in her mind. This was all part of her captor's effort to make his voice louder than her actual memories and she almost became grateful to him.
Following her three-day captivity, Browne drove the both of them into the city with the aim of reporting Julio Torres's accidental death to the authorities, but not before making a pit stop at his lawyer's office. It was evident by his move, that he Browne basically had a record for committing crimes. Together with his lawyer, Browne and Torres reported her husband's death to the Clackamas County police, in Oregon, where they both underwent a polygraph or lie-detector test. Browne passed the test despite his testimony being a complete lie but what was even more surprising is that so did Torres. His brainwashing was so effective that the polygraph didn't display any signs of foul play and Torres's lie had practically saved her husband's murderer
'Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice' airs on Sunday, August 2, at 10 pm ET/PT on Lifetime.