[2] In the summer of 1984, three women were killed in a remarkably similar fashion in Providence's downtown area: all were found within a five-block radius, near a bus depot, were strangled to death and left only partially clothed.
[3] Despite her severe injuries, she survived, and Talbot managed to tell what had transpired the previous day - she had been introduced to her would-be killer by an acquaintance, and claimed that "Ray" was a pimp who frequented the downtown bus station.
When shown photographs of several suspects, both Talbot and her friend identified the supposed hustler - he was 23-year-old Raymond Lassor, an unemployed drifter and male prostitute who frequented the area.
[3] That same day, Lassor was arrested, and during the subsequent police interviews, he signed four full confessions for the three murders and the rape of Talbot, with details of the crime scenes that only the actual perpetrator could know.
In his trial, which lasted two years, Lassor's court-appointed attorney Russell M. Sollitto tried to discredit Talbot's testimony by arguing that she had blacked out during the attack, in addition to claiming that the authorities had coerced his client into writing the confessions.